


Friendship in the Most Unlikely Places

by Crazynumnums



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Bullies, But has the same characters, F/M, Friendship, Gen, High School, Humor, Humor ftw, Hurt/Comfort, Probably some other things, Sexual Humor, This is nothing like the show, This story will spiral out of control, Trust, Why am I doing this???, probably out of character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2019-10-14 20:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazynumnums/pseuds/Crazynumnums
Summary: Spencer's high school life is not going fantastically. Being younger than everyone else means that he's an easy target for other students to pick on. But the world isn't completely dark, and he's knows there are nice people out there, if only he can find them.JJ is still struggling to deal with her sister's suicide. Six years on, and she's been expected to get over it. She can't. She might be pretty and popular, but without massive meaningful connections, she feels lost and alone.Derek has the worst of one world, and the best of another. At school? Expected future prom king, class clown, consistent flirter. At home? Father's dead, mom's absent, others abusive. He has his siblings, but he can't expect them to help. Can he find people to lean on, people to call friends?Penelope isn't popular; and that disappoints her. No one talks to her, no one even really looks at her, and that saddens the extroverted teen. She's smart, kind, and funny, but nobody gives her the time of day.Emily hasn't lived in one place for more than a year in her life, and now that she's planning to stay there for a while, she doesn't know how to deal. Can she fit in, or will she be sentenced to ostracization?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> High school alternate universe fic (because those definitely haven't already been done to death) about members of the BAU.  
> 1\. This is written from an author who's only seen the first season of CM. Probably means I'm not fit to have any real opinions on the show, but I've fallen in love with it, and wanted to get my piece out. Hopefully it brings some nostalgia or something for you.  
> 2\. For the above reason, I had to go on the Criminal Minds Wiki to get some of the info. I haven't actually seen Prentiss in action, but everyone seems to love her so I figured I'd bring her in. However, because I don't know the characters very in depth, some of the characters might be OOC. I am trying, but I'm not the best at understanding people, so I might not be very good.  
> 3\. For the purposes of this fic, everyone is around 16 or 17 years old, except for Spence, who is 15. I figured that he would still have skipped a grade and would still be as smart as he is, but having him slightly older than he would have been realistically means that I can manoeuvre the characters a bit easier.  
> 4\. I swear. Quite a bit. It's pretty realistic, at least. Have you heard the stuff that comes out of student's mouths? This fic won't be that bad, but if you aren't a fan of bad language, I'd suggest that you stop reading pretty damn quick.  
> 5\. My first fic! Hopefully it's good. I'm feeling kinda self-conscious about it all, but there's nothing to lose. Hope you enjoy this!

_Shit._

 

_Shitshitshitshitshit._

 

He'd forgotten to do the homework.

 

Not his homework, obviously. He never had time to do his homework, because everyone else was forcing him to do theirs. And that was his current predicament. He'd forgotten to do it, and so he was currently walking through school, attempting not to be noticed by anyone, because if he was noticed, he just knew it would be someone who he didn't want to see.

 

"Hey! Reid!" Spencer flinched. Exactly like that.

 

Against his better judgement, he turned to face the boy calling his name. "Hey, Toby."

 

"No small talk. Where is it?" Spencer said nothing. "You do know what I'm talking about. Jesus, for a genius you're dumb."

 

"I don't have it." There wasn't exactly a gasp from the small crowd watching the exchange, but there was a collective wince as they anticipated the beating he was about to receive. Not that any of them actually cared about Spencer. They were probably itching for a fight. It wouldn't be much of a fight. Toby would probably hit him about five times, and then a teacher would break it up, and he would be sent to the nurse, and he would miss a period of class. He was used to it by now, and it wasn't like missing a class was going to affect him in any way. He already knew everything that was being taught.

 

Spencer was dragged from his thoughts by a fist striking the side of his head. "You little dickweed. You can't be serious. You're gonna make me fail." Spencer felt like pointing out that it wasn't his fault, that it was Toby's for not doing the work, but wisely decided against it. Toby had apparently decided that no more words should be spoken, anyway, because the next thing Spencer knew, he was being dragged up against the wall. That was a new move. Toby usually just punched and kicked. It didn't make Spencer any happier, though. It was just fists from Toby, flying. Spencer counted the number of punches, as numbers were usually the only thing keeping him grounded anyway. _ __4, 5, 6, 7, 8...__ _

 

"Hey! That's enough!" Next thing Spencer knew, Toby was being dragged away from Spencer. He regained control of his limbs, and gingerly patted his nose. Not broken, although he would be feeling it for a few days. Not to mention the blood streaming down his face. That was fun, too.

 

"Are you okay?" Mr. Hotchner looked down at Spencer, who looked back up stoically.

 

"What do you think?"

 

"See the nurse, Reid. Please." He trudged out of the hallway, receiving a couple of shoves from other students, as if they thought the whole exchange was his fault. Spencer had learned pretty quickly not to let anyone really get to him. In a few years, he would be far away from them, flying high, while they were still struggling to get past school. He kept a smug feeling of future superiority over them, but sometimes the torment got to him. Not today though, he thought, fighting to keep tears at bay.

 

The nurse wasn't too far away from him, which was fortunate. But he still felt the shame every time when she asked him what had happened, what did the other kids do. He had probably visited the nurse more than anyone else in the school, and considering he was still a junior, that was a pretty spectacular feat.

 

There was someone sitting outside the room. Derek Morgan. Spencer didn't like him, a feeling he had for the entire school population, but at least Morgan didn't beat the crap out of him. Morgan's eyes widened slightly at the blood streaming out of Spencer's face, but said nothing. He himself was sporting a black eye, but not much else.

 

Spencer walked past him, into the nurse's office, but she was busy. He backed out quietly, so as not to disturb the current patient, who didn't look in the best shape, either. He sat back outside, next to Morgan.

 

"What happened to you?" Spencer raised his eyebrows at the question, but Morgan seemed serious. "What? Were you fighting?"

 

Spencer scoffed. "That's one way of putting it." He thought he could let the conversation end there, but Morgan continued to stare at him, clearly expecting something more. "I didn't do Toby's homework. Then he did this."

 

"Hankel?" Spencer nodded. "Well, at least he's getting suspended."

 

"That doesn't do anything. It actually makes it worse. He blames me for getting him suspended, then proceeds to beat the shit out of me again, outside of school, with no witnesses."

 

"Well, have you--"

 

"Unless you're planning on personally stepping in, which I don't recommend, as it would ruin your social status, don't give suggestions. They don't help."

 

"Sorry." He smiled a little. "Can you do my homework?"

 

Spencer groaned. But he wasn't going to say no. He wasn't an idiot. "Okay. What subject?"

 

"I was kidding, man." Morgan looked at him with concerned eyes, but he was stopped from saying anything more by the nurse coming out into the hallway. "Mr. Morgan, you're next." Spencer watched the other kid slink away quietly.

 

"Nah, miss. I think that he needs it more than me."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Just look at his face!" That was the only argument the nurse needed, and Spencer walked in, grateful for the other boy's gesture.

 

*     *     *     *

 

"Will, come on! Go to class!"

 

"Not until you tell me what's bothering you." He had a joking smile on, which infuriated JJ, but at the same time let her know that she would win this argument.

 

"You're struggling enough as it is. Go, before I make you."

 

"Why don't I just make that kid do it for me? The genius?"

 

"Make him do it for you?"

 

"Everyone else does."

 

"What do you mean? Actually, wait, no, I'm not getting distracted here. You need to go, and I need to go somewhere else. Alone." She tried, but it was hard keeping a straight face on around him. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "And no forcing anyone to do anything!" Will laughed as he walked off.

 

JJ breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she would have to explain her disappearances to him at some point. but she wasn't in the mood. And, truth be told, she was a little embarrassed. It had been six years! Six freaking years, and she still needed a counsellor to tell her that unfortunately, her sister was not going to be coming back. Ever. He probably wouldn't say it like that, but that was the gist of it.

 

She felt dumb. She felt stupid, because she couldn’t cope. If anybody else had someone close to them die, they were fine. At least within the year. And JJ wasn’t thinking of joining her sister, or anything. She knew enough to know that she had a good life. On the short walk to the counsellor’s office, she passed three people who tried to stop and talk to her. So, she realised that being liked was far better than most got it.

 

But a dead sister certainly wasn’t. And for her penultimate session with the counsellor, she really wanted to confront issues that she had. She didn’t want to do these sessions, she never had, and her effort had been hampered due to this lack of motivation, but hell, she didn’t want to have wasted all that time, and she certainly didn’t want to go back any more.

 

“Hello, Jennifer.” For all her hatred of the sessions, she had to admit that the counsellor was affable, if a little formal. “You know how this works by now.”

 

JJ closed the door behind her, and inhaled deeply, in preparation for the upcoming torture.

  
*     *     *     *

Emily smiled to herself. At least the teacher didn’t make her get in front of the class to introduce herself. That always sucked. She didn’t know why teachers thought that broke the ice, when all it really did was make things more awkward. It didn’t usually matter, anyway, as she was always gone before she could really get to know anyone, but not this time. They were staying. ‘For the foreseeable future’ was what her parents had said, and she’d practically jumped for joy.

 

But now, seeing everyone stare at her as she jotted down whatever the teacher was writing, she felt self-conscious. Biting back scathing responses she had saved up for onlookers, she tucked her eyes back down to her paper, and realised that she had no clue what they were learning. She was intelligent, very, but missing the previous five weeks was always going to take its toll. She groaned, louder than was intended.

 

“Something wrong, Emily?”

 

“No, sir, it’s all good. Still jetlagged.” The teacher accepted her lie, and continued to write formulas on the board. She stared, and the thought that she had been dropped into the middle of the hardest possible mathematics class she could’ve chosen struck her mind. She flopped her head to her desk, but fortunately everyone had finished looking at her by then.

 

After class she walked over to the teacher. “Sir?”

 

“Yes, Emily?”

 

“Um… I, uh. I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, sir.”

 

“Do you need a tutor?”

 

Emily internally cringed. She definitely couldn’t ask for a tutor on her first day, and anyway, she was smart, she could catch up. “No! No, but I was wondering how long it’ll take me to get what you’re saying.”

 

“Not too long. From what I’ve gathered you’re quite intelligent, and as long as you’ve got the textbook and are studying, you should probably be good for the assessment.”

 

“How far away is that?”

 

“Five weeks.” Mr. Hotchner smiled encouragingly. “You’ll be fine. Are you sure you won’t be wanting a tutor?”

 

“No. Thanks anyway, sir.”

 

“Check out chapters five, six and seven, that’s what we’re mainly doing this semester.”

 

Emily nodded, and exited the classroom. The quiet of the room was instantly paralleled by the noise and crowdedness of the hallway. Emily didn’t mind the noise. It, weirdly enough, allowed her to think, a far cry from the deafening silence of her own home. She started to smile, but blanched when she saw the sight in front of her. Two boys, fighting. Or rather, one boy beating the other senseless. Mr. Hotchner ran past her, to break up the fight, and after he had managed it, she gasped at the sight of the smaller boy’s face. Bloodied and bruised.

 

She hoped these weren’t sights that she had to see for the rest of her time at school.

 

*     *     *     *

 

Penelope saw someone looking at her, and waved, only to have them slide away quietly. She frowned slightly, but, ever the optimist, she continued walking down the hall. She just wished she had someone to talk to. But being ignored was at least better than being picked on.

 

Like that kid she just saw get sent to the nurse’s office. She felt bad, but realistically, what could she have done? Thrown the guy off with her bubbly personality?

 

So, she just watched as he took a seat outside that office, and talked quietly with Morgan. He seemed okay, a little too okay, which cried out to her compassionate side, but she shook it off, continuing to her next class, her favourite class: ICT. She couldn’t resist smiling in full view, which definitely creeped some people out, but she was happy, and she wasn’t about to hide it.

 

“Hey. Excuse me?”

 

It took Penelope a minute to register that someone was talking to her. She turned to face a tall, square-jawed brunette. “Does that happen often?”

 

She knew what the other girl was talking about. “Um, I’m not sure. Probably, judging by the fact that he seems to be okay now.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Because he’s right there…” Penelope trailed off, as she realised that the boy was nowhere to be seen. “Well, he was just chatting with Derek Morgan.”

 

“That’s slightly concerning.”

 

“A little,” Penelope conceded sadly. “I’m Penelope.” She stuck out a hand to the girl opposite her.

 

The girl responded in turn. “I’m Emily.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quickest update that I am ever going to do! Super huge thanks to ShadowsAtNight for their kudos and fantastic supporting comments (along with the one guest who left kudos). Thanks to them, I decided to publish this a little earlier than I originally thought I would.  
> Thanks for the support!

JJ walked out of the counsellor’s office, feeling annoyingly unfulfilled. She knew that her effort in the matter wasn’t fantastic, but she was seriously starting to wonder whether the counsellor was any good at his job. All he really did was ask JJ why she was feeling this way (which seemed like a stupid question to her) and suggest, ‘You could deal with it this way…”

To which JJ called bullshit. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried every coping method in the book. She felt like maybe she was trying _too_ hard, that she just needed to relax, and that she would cope on her own. But she wasn’t exactly known for her patience. And six years was far too long.

She shook the thoughts from her mind as she spotted Derek Morgan sitting outside the nurse’s office. They weren’t friends, by any stretch of the imagination, but JJ would still like to say hi to him occasionally, and it was expected that they should be friends anyway. And after seeing the black eye and the concerned look on his face, JJ had to know what happened.

Morgan noticed her looking. “This was just an accident.”

“Pretty violent accident,” she laughed. He laughed with her.

“Nah, just a collision on the basketball courts. She’s already been patched up. She seemed pretty embarrassed about it, so I didn’t want to ask if she was okay.”

“Then why aren’t you in there?”

“There’s some other kid already in there. He got beaten up pretty badly, so I let him go ahead. He was full on bleeding and everything.”

“Did you get his story?”

“Parts of it, but he doesn’t seem like much of a talker. Apparently, he got the full package from Toby Hankel.”

“Why?”

“Because the guy’s a dick, and the kid in there,” he gestured to the nurse’s office, “didn’t do his homework.”

“Holy shit! Did you try and help?”

“Of course, but he didn’t wanna accept it. He said that all of my suggestions were pointless, and that I shouldn’t step in, as it would ruin my social status.” He grimaced. “From what I gathered, it’s been happening for a while.”

JJ suddenly flashed back to Will’s comments about the ‘genius kid’. Suddenly, she was fuming. “Thanks. See you, Morgan.” He nodded in response.

She stalked down the halls, and she must’ve had a look on her face that warned everybody to stay out of her way, because she miraculously had a five-foot radius of free space around her as she walked to Will’s classroom to give him a piece of her mind.

They were just clearing out as JJ got to the door. She spotted Will, and quickly grabbed his shirt and tugged him away from the crowd. “Woah, JJ, what’s up?”

“You remember that conversation we had this morning. The one about the kid who would do the homework for you?”

“Yeah?”

“So you know how the whole homework thing works, yeah?”

“Not really. I just heard it from someone.”

JJ’s anger dissipated slightly, but she was still unhappy. “The kid just got sent to the nurse. Apparently, he didn’t do someone else’s homework, and got the crap beaten out of him for it.”

Will took a moment to process what she was saying. JJ ploughed on. “And apparently it happens regularly.”

“Wow. Okay, I knew that someone was getting shat on every second week, but I didn’t realise that was the reason—”

“You knew this was happening?” She interrupted shrilly.

“JJ, stop. What the hell would I have done? The only possible result would be that I would get hit by those dickheads, and what does that achieve?”

“I just hate that—”

Will didn’t seem to be listening. “Is this really about the kid? What else is happening?”

JJ finally crumbled. “No, it isn’t,” she sighed. “Can we talk? Outside?”

Will nodded, albeit reluctantly. They walked slowly towards the doors, JJ trapped in her own thoughts, and her doubts about talking to Will about what was troubling her. But this was her boyfriend; she could trust him, right? He was someone she could talk to.

Sooner than she would have liked, they reached the sunny skies of outside, and it was there that Will turned abruptly and grabbed both of JJ’s arms. JJ could feel him searching through her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she began. “Those free periods that I have…”

“Yes?”

“They aren’t free periods. Not really. I’ve been going to visit a… the counsellor.”

“Why?”

JJ started to rise, before controlling her emotions, reasoning that after six years, Will would’ve expected her to be okay with it. “Rosaline.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry I didn’t… I should have realised.”

“No, don’t worry. I really should be past it, now. But I just can’t. I still close my eyes, and see her, lying in the bath. Red everywhere. It’s… it’s really bad, Will, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to move past it. And that’s really scary.”

JJ expected some words of comfort, but Will just pulled her into a tight embrace, evidently sensing that she needed it. And she sank into the embrace.

*     *     *     *

“Haven’t seen you here before.”

Emily smiled. “That would’ve been impressive. No, I just moved. Again. We move more than every year, but apparently we’re planning to at least settle down a little. I certainly hope so.”

“In the middle of the term?”

“Yeah, well. My parents’ jobs have kind of come at the expense of my education. They’ve never really thought that me failing a few subjects could at all relate to my lack of a proper home, and instead I’m just lazy, or stupid. They don’t say it to my face, they aren’t abusive or anything, but it isn’t too hard to deduce that they’re thinking it.”

“That sucks. Well, hopefully I can help with that. I’m going to ICT next. Are you taking it too?”

“Yeah.” Emily followed Garcia, grateful that she had met someone willing to talk to her. “Do you know anyone else, anyone that I could be friends with?”

“You aren’t looking at the right person unfortunately, sweetie. I don’t have an abundance of friends. Not for a lack of trying. But unfortunately, this,” she gestured to her face, “and my weirdly flirty and loud personality tends to send people away. At least, that’s what the psychiatrist said. He was a bit of an asshole.”

Emily laughed. “He sounds it.” She didn’t comment on Garcia’s self-deprecation, because she could tell that she was only saying it for humour. But Emily wasn’t sure why no one was friends with her. She seemed like an extremely likable person. “I’ll try not to run away from the bubbliest person I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks!” They walked in comfortable silence to the classroom, until they came up to the door. “How are you with computers?”

“Uh, average, I guess? I just took it ‘cause it sounded easy and reasonably fun.”

Garcia became mock-outraged. “How dare you!” she stage-whispered, making Emily giggle. “Computers are our future! Sit near me, and I’ll show you what I can do with them.” She winked, only making Emily grin more.

As the teacher led them in, and gave a special acknowledgement to the new student in Emily, Penelope pulled her to a back corner. “It’s kind of fortunate that no one talks to me, because I expect that most people would just try and piss me off, and that would be a mistake. Because I would just find their nudes or something and post them everywhere.”

Emily raised her eyebrows sceptically, but her jaw dropped when she saw that she was serious. “Penelope! You couldn’t!”

“No, no, keep in mind, they’d have to _really_ piss me off, first. Like hit me multiple times, or…” she grinned devilishly, “they insult my babies. The computers, I mean. I mean, imagine someone saying that they took ICT because it was easy. Man, I’d probably expose their entire criminal history.”

“Joke’s on you, I don’t have any nudes or criminal history.”

“Maybe not, but everybody has something dark and despicable.” Garcia quickly turned on the computer.

“But if you did it, then everyone would know it was you, because you have to log into the school network.”

Garcia scoffed. “It’s genuinely insulting that you think that I can be stopped by measly school security.” Her screen went black, barring some white characters up the top. Garcia continued typing, and the characters moved, before the screen flashed entirely white, and the icons flashed onto the desktop.

Emily was speechless. “So, theoretically, you could watch porn under school security.”

“What do you mean, theoretically? Anyway, all I need to do afterwards is delete any of my records from the school’s internet history, and boom! I can do anything.” Penelope grinned, happy that she could finally express her love for the screens to another person that wasn’t her parents.

“Can you find me?”

“That’s a bit more of a task. I’m not good enough yet to get into massive servers for long before they kick me out, but I could probably find something. Just give me a second…” Emily turned her face to the teacher, realising that she wasn’t a prodigy like Garcia, and would actually need to pay attention if she wanted to pass, but when she turned around, she saw her passport up on the screen.

“Holy fuck,” she cursed, registering that this probably deserved something a bit stronger than usual. “Are you still in the federal servers?”

“God no. If I’m in there for too long, they notice, and then my IP address is taken down and I’m absolutely screwed. But only being in there for fifteen seconds was enough time for me to find your passport and take a screenshot. And now, I have your details. Keep that in mind if you ever decide to backstab me,” she said, but she was smiling broadly all the while.

Emily smiled back. “Duly noted.”

*     *     *     *

Derek sat outside the nurse’s office, thinking. He hadn’t seen much of the Hankel kid, but from what he’d figured out, and from what the kid inside the office had told him, he sounded like a prick. Derek wasn’t happy, and he was less happy as he recognised that he had probably had some interaction with the kid. At some point in his life he had probably said hello to that kid, treated him like a non-psychopath.

At that point, the kid emerged from the office, sporting a bandage around his nose and a foul expression. “Bitch,” he muttered, out of earshot of the nurse.

“Hey, kid. What’s up? Why’s she a bitch?”

“Nothing.” Derek looked at him as if to say, _really?_ “Oh, it’s just that she insinuated that all of this was somehow my fault. That I need to learn to keep out of trouble. As if I purposely go looking for people and say ‘Hey, I didn’t do _your_ homework, now beat me up.’”

“That’s dumb.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Can I ask a question?” The other boy looked expectantly. “Why is it just you that they pick on? I mean, if you were gonna not do it, wouldn’t they force someone else to?”

“They know I’m smart.”

“There are other smart people—”

“No, _really_ smart. I’m a fifteen-year-old junior, for Christ’s sake.”

“Wait, you’re a junior?” The kid barely looked old enough to be a freshman. How on earth had Derek not seen a thirteen-year-old kid running through the halls in their first year? The kid looked unsurprised at Derek’s shock.

“I’ve been accepted by universities next year, so I’ll do those studies next to my senior work.”

“Damn. Impressive. Well, hit me up if you ever need my help with those dickheads, alright?”

“It’s going to be a little difficult to ‘hit you up’ when I’m getting my ass handed to me. But thanks, anyway. I appreciate it.”

“I’m Derek.”

“I know who you are.” Derek looked at him quizzically. “Photographic memory. I’m Spencer.”

Derek held out his hand to shake.

Spencer grimaced. “No, thank you. I don’t shake hands.”

“No worries.”

“Really? You’re the first person who hasn’t been weirded out by that.”

“Oh no, it’s still weird. But everyone has their quirks.”

The nurse emerged from the room, rolling her eyes when she saw Spencer standing, something both of the boys noticed. “Mr. Morgan, you can come in now.”

“No, I think I’m alright, Miss. You headed home? Can I come with?”

Before Spencer could find a way around his shock in order to respond, the nurse cut in. “This check-up is mandatory. Not voluntary.”

Derek breathed out sharply. “Then give me a detention or something, Miss. But someone needs to make sure he actually makes it home.” Spencer got the hint, and gasped, as if in pain. The nurse hesitated. “He really had a number done on him.”

“Alright! Fine. You can walk Mr. Reid home. How far away do you live?”

“20 minutes.”

“If you aren’t back in an hour, Morgan, then I will send a detention your way. The hour starts now.”

Derek and Spencer skedaddled. Once out of sight of the nurse, Derek grinned at Spencer. “Thanks for the help. I don’t think that I would’ve gotten away with it without your pain-riddled gasp.”

“So I did the right thing?” Spencer said, sounding ecstatic.

“…Yeah? Don’t act so surprised.”

Spencer looked down. “Sorry, I don’t normally do well with social cues and things like that, you know. In middle school I had a teacher who showed me a graph. Generally, the smarter you are, the worse you are in social situations. There are exceptions, as there are to every rule, and this is only general, but I am not one of those exceptions.”

Derek was taken aback by the ramble, but he quickly waved it off. “Well, you’re not bad company. You got me out of class for an hour. You’re doing alright. And I am an amazing judge of character, sooo…”

“No problem.”

They walked in silence for a while. Derek wasn’t usually comfortable with silence; he always felt the need to fill up the room and make noise, to prevent the situation from being awkward, but he found that walking with the younger boy quietly was enjoyable. Even so, he couldn’t resist speaking.

“Is Hankel likely to come after you on this walk?”

“No, they never have time straight after suspension. But they’ll come after me tomorrow, And the next day, probably. They know which way I walk.”

“Why don’t you just go a different way to school?”

“Because they always find me eventually. And then it’s worse, because I’ve tried to ‘escape them, and so I’ll pay.’ I’ve definitely heard someone say that to me before, which is hilarious.”

“Hilarious?”

“Well, I’m not gonna sit here and say, ‘My life is the worst.’ There are aspects of my life that suck, for sure, but there’s only one and a half years left. And I’m not the only bullied kid on the planet. Did you know that exactly 20.8% of students report being bullied at some point in their life? Also, 6% of all male students have been physically assaulted at some point or another, with over half of the bullying occurring in the hallway of a school.”

Derek opened his mouth to respond, before realising that he didn’t have much to say in response. Those statistics amazed him. “Sorry. I tend to get rambly.”

“You know what? I _had_ noticed that,” Derek noted sarcastically. “The sad part is, those statistics aren’t surprising at all.”

“Not to mention the students who don’t want to admit to being bullied, or the students who don’t realise they’re being bullied.”

“What’s the worst of it that you’ve gotten? Wait, sorry, just realising how insensitive these questions are.” He moved a hand to his face.

“It is actually good to talk to someone, so I don’t mind your questions. Uh, I haven’t had any broken bones… No, wait, I have! My nose was broken—”

“Was that today?”

“No, no, it’s not broken, just very, very sore. I’ll live.”

Derek decided to leave the topic alone for the moment. It was making him sad, and uncomfortable, and with all of the pressures of his home life bearing over him as well, he didn’t really want to think about it.

“You probably know most of what I like to do, but what do you like to do? In your spare time, or whatever?”

“Try not to sound too overconfident.”

“I won’t.”

“Uhhhh… Reading, mostly. I read everywhere I go. In class, especially. Non-fiction or fiction, I don’t really care which. I really enjoy math and science, as well. I usually do those at all the football and soccer games we have.”

“How? Isn’t it noisy?”

“Only for the first five minutes. Then it all fades into white noise, which is actually quite stimulating.”

Derek thinks for a moment. It’s bizarre that Spencer’s been to all of these games and he hasn’t noticed him. Although it would be hard to find him when Derek was on the football field. “Do you ever watch any of the games?”

“It’s never interested me.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

Derek pauses for a moment, letting that sink in.

“How the fuck?”

“What do you mean?”

“How the fuck do you go to all of these games, yet are never once tempted to look up for ten minutes? I reckon you’ll find it more entertaining than you realise. Both of those sports are very strategic, and you could find an actual use for your physics. I assume you enjoy physics.”

“Immensely.”

“Apply that to a game every once in a while. Maybe you could help me figure out when I’m going to get steamrolled by the guy in front of me.”

“I should have known you’d be on the field.”

“It hurts on a personal level that you didn’t know that beforehand.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.” He actually sounded sincere.

“I was kidding, man! Come on, lighten up.”

“You make a lot of jokes.”

“I like to make people laugh. It doesn’t seem to work on you though, which is disappointing.”

“I don’t understand many jokes.”

“I’m sure you can get bett—” Derek stopped talking as Spencer stuck an arm out in front of him. “What are you doing?”

“This is my street.”

“I got that. Why are you stopping me here, instead of on your doorstep?”

“You don’t want to go down that street. Trust me.”

“I don’t really. Give me a reason.”

“The guy across the road from me is… an asshole, let’s put it that way.”

Derek stood stock-still in confusion for a moment. Then he realised. “Ohhhhh…”

“Yeah. While I know that you can handle yourself, I’d rather avoid any fight at all, if I could. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine on this street.”

“If you’re sure. See you around, kid.”

Spencer grinned, seemingly grateful for the moniker. “You too.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I lied when I said that the chapter before was my quickest upload. In fairness, this chapter was already two thirds done by the time that one came out. School comes back soon, so updates will slow down a bit soon. But for now, I'm writing as much as I can.
> 
> Thanks again to the wonderful ShadowsAtNight for their continued fantastic support on this story. Also thanks to ValiantJokingThorn for the kudos. Kudos back to you, my friend!

“Hey, Morgan!” Derek turned at the sound of his name, and saw Jennifer. Surprised, he returned the greeting. “Sorry for running off on you yesterday. What else did you break, other than that poor girl’s face?”

Derek laughed off her light jab. “I never found out.”

“What do you mean you never found out?”

“I didn’t go in. Figured that the kid needed a bit of protection on his walk home.”

“That was nice of you.”

“It was nothing. Got me out of class for a while. And he wasn’t bad to walk with, even if he sometimes talks like he’s sixty. Did you know he’s in our year?”

“Really? That guy is seventeen?” JJ was amazed.

“No, he just skipped a grade or two.”

“Damn. Was he alright?”

“Looked worse than it was, I think. He seemed happy enough, and rattled off these stats about bullying or something. I can’t remember what they were, but they were outrageous. Apparently, it keeps him happy to know that he isn’t the only one in that situation.”

“Well, whatever works, I guess. Keep me updated, yeah? And…” she hesitated, “let’s catch up sometime.”

“Sure.” Derek nodded, knowing that it was an empty promise. She looked satisfied at that, and once again walked away.

Derek shrugged, and continued on his merry way.

*     *     *     *

Emily tried, but it was no use. Usually she could catch up on whatever she was studying, but she was too far behind to catch up. She hated to admit it, but the teacher had been right earlier. She needed a tutor.

“Sir?” She walked up to his desk as the class cleared out.

“You need help, don’t you?”

She sighed. “Yes, please.”

“I’d noticed. Don’t worry, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he smiled reassuringly. “Spencer!”

“Yes, sir?” _Oh god_ , she thought. Not only was she going to be taught by this midget, but it was the same kid who she saw getting beat on earlier. He seemed to be sporting some new cuts and bruises, that looked far too fresh to have been from the day before.

“You remember Emily? She’s been having a little trouble catching up. We’re too far ahead. Could you maybe help her along?” The way that Mr. Hotchner phrased the question made her feel just that little bit better.

“I barely pay attention sir. I don’t know that I’m the best option—”

“Spencer, don’t bullshit me.” Emily looked on, slightly shocked by the teacher’s expletive. “You and I both know that you’ve learned the material for _next_ year. Just give her some assistance. I know that you two can get results together.”

Emily and Spencer looked at each other. It could’ve been worse.

“You can leave now.”

“Right.”

“Thanks, sir.”

The two teens exited the classroom with haste. “So, when are you free?”

“Literally anytime. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

“Is right now good?”

“Sure.”

Emily starts to walk to the cafeteria, but Spencer doesn’t follow. “Are you coming?”

“Could we avoid the cafeteria? The general student population doesn’t agree with me.”

“Oh. Right. Sure.” Emily said.

They sat on the grass outside the building. Spencer began to speak. “Before we start, I have two questions for you. Well, I might only have one question, because whether or not I ask the second question depends on your answer to the first question, and if you answer wrong on the first question, then I won’t—”

Emily cut in. “What’s the first question?”

Spencer smiled gratefully. “Sorry. Ummm… Are you actually looking to study, or are you just trying to get me to do your homework for you?”

Emily was about to ask why she would do the latter, but realised the stupidity of the question at the last second. “I want to actually learn.”

“Okay. Then, how smart would you say you are? So that I can know how fast to go.”

“Reasonably smart.” Spencer looked on. “What, do you want an IQ estimate or something?”

“That would be helpful, although I do know that the IQ system is inherently flawed.”

“I don’t have a basis for comparison.”

“Mine is 187. The average is about 100.”

“Woah.” She didn’t know much about the IQ system, but she knew that that score was incredible. “I’m smarter than average. Maybe about 120?”

“130, then. Okay.”

“No, I said 120.”

“Yeah, but that means 130. Studies have shown that while men tend to overestimate their own abilities and strengths, which can end badly, women do the opposite. You underestimate your intelligence: you said 120, which means that you’re probably closer between 125-130.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“That’s a good idea. So, I think that you can catch up if we do two topics per week. We do one topic per week in class, so if you do two then you will be able to catch up in time for whatever test we have.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“I put a lot of thought into everything. So, let’s get started…”

They studied together for the remaining half-hour of lunch. Emily found that she really was learning far easier when she started from where she was supposed to compared to when she started from where the entire class was. Spencer, on the other hand, found helping Emily to be quite enjoyable. She was a quick study, was upfront yet still friendly, and just an overall affable person. At least, from his point of view.

“Can we take a break for a bit?”

Spencer looked up. He wasn’t tired, not one bit, but then again, he did respect that he had more patience than most for this sort of thing. “Yeah, sure. I think we only have like five minutes left of the break, so we should just wrap up.”

“Okay. Thanks for your help. Every Wednesday?”

“Sounds good.”

Spencer sat, waiting for her to leave, but weirdly enough, she didn’t. Instead she sat back, and leaned on her bag to look at the sky. _‘What is going on lately?’_ he thought. “Are you alright? I’m sure that you’ve got other friends and stuff, so you _can_ leave.”

“Am I that bad?”

“No, that- I didn’t mean that. What I meant was—”

“Relax. I know what you meant. And no, I haven’t. I have this girl named Penelope—”

“Penelope Garcia, right? She seems nice enough.”

“…right. Anyway, I’m happy to sit with you.”

“You won’t be.”

Emily frowned at that, but let it slide, just as she had with Garcia. “I’m gonna ask you a question. You don’t have to answer, but it would be nice if you could. Why do those guys just beat the shit out of you?”

“’Homework problems.’ Weirdly enough, you aren’t the only one to ask me that recently. But seriously, they’re just assholes. I wish I could say I didn’t care. Unfortunately, that isn’t true, but I do know that I can escape in a year and a half. I hold on to that.”

“I wish I could help.”

“I assume you only saw the little show yesterday, but trust me, you’d be pitting yourself against 90% of the grade. Bad idea. As a girl who’s actually old enough to be in the grade, you’d be hit a lot less, but still.”

“That doesn’t stop me wishing.”

“Change of topic: where do you normally sit?”

“I don’t. This is my second day. Yesterday I came late, so I didn’t have a lunch.”

“Wait. You’re wasting your first lunch at this place sitting and talking to me? Go find Penelope!”

“No! I won’t just ditch you.”

“You wouldn’t be ditching, and you can still talk to me, just not on your first full day—” A bell ringing over his head cut him off. “Shit. Too late.” He seemed resigned, but Emily was simply puzzled. “Look, I’ll see you around, Emily, but preferably over a week from now, when you’ve fully assimilated into the hierarchy.”

And with that, he took off.

*     *     *     *

“Mr. Hotchner?”

The teacher looked up, and smiled when he saw the girl. “Hello, Penelope. Come in. I’d say have a seat, but you probably sit in those things enough.”

Penelope nodded ferociously in agreement. Mr. Hotchner found the staff rooms too crowded for his taste, and preferred to reside in the classrooms, in the peace and quiet. Penelope could see where he was coming from, even if she didn’t agree. “I didn’t come to chat. Or… I mean… Have you seen Emily?”

“Prentiss?”

“Yes sir, that Emily.”

“Have you befriended her? That’s good for both of you.” Hotchner was fond of the bubbly blonde, and after only two days was starting to like Miss Prentiss as well.

“Yes, I did. After that incident in the hallway yesterday. Which is why I wanted to know where she is. I know that she was in your class before break, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

“You’ll, unfortunately, have to ask Emily about that. It’s not in my business to discuss student’s personal matters.”

“Oh, so it’s a personal matter then.” The teacher glared at her. “Sorry, sorry, consider the personal matter dropped. Thanks anyway, sir.”

“My pleasure, Garcia. Door’s open anytime.” Penelope felt like that was only said out of politeness, as Mr. Hotchner was not particularly fond of student socialisation. She turned, ready to go, but was stopped by the door opening again.

“Mr. Hotchner, can you stop the counselling, please? It isn’t helping—” The other girl stopped talking when Mr. Hotchner cleared his throat. “Oh. Shit. Hi there.” She then promptly took off.

Garcia stood in shock. _How could such a vivacious girl need counselling?_ She started to leave, but was stopped once again, this time by the teacher’s voice. “Garcia.” She nodded in recognition of the voice. “Nothing leaves this room.”

“It won’t. I-I promise, sir.” She attempted to leave for the third time, and no one stopped her this time.

Garcia walked down the hallway quickly, her shoes echoing in the silence. Rounding a corner, she saw the girl she had seen before. _J… J something… Jennifer! Yeah, that sounds right._ She tried to sneak away, but Jennifer had heard her coming.

“Hi.” Penelope felt awkward. Like, insanely awkward, which was not completely foreign to her, but she usually knew her way around awkward situations. This was completely different.

“Don’t give me your pity. Please.” Jennifer’s voice wavered, but stayed strong.

“No pity, I promise.”

“Thank you.” She closed her eyes, and rested her head against the wall, clearly expecting Penelope to leave. But she couldn’t just leave someone in that state.

“No, wait, I do have to pity you for something.” JJ snapped her eyes open, forcing Garcia to continue quickly. “The _school counsellor?_ Hell, I only had a regular psychologist, and that was bad enough. A school employee must have been a fucking nightmare.”

Despite herself, Jennifer chuckled. “I expect there are a few jokes I could make about him, but they’re all probably in poor taste.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve met him. Your in-poor-taste jokes are understandable.”

“Good to know I’m not the only one.” She sighed. Penelope sat by her. “What’s your name?”

“Penelope. Or Garcia. Depending on whether you’re an authority figure.”

“Penelope it is. I’m JJ.” She didn’t offer an alternative name, and Penelope felt slightly flattered that she was allowed to refer to her by this clear nickname. “Sorry about barging in on your discussion there.”

“No worries. I was genuinely about to leave anyway, I was just looking for a friend of mine.” She smiled at JJ. “But Emily can wait for now, if you want.”

“Emily? That’s the new girl, right?”

Penelope tried not to be irritated by the thought that JJ knew Emily’s name, but not hers. It was just the ‘new girl buzz’, after all. “Yeah, we hit it off after watching the hallway incident yesterday.”

“Ugh, I heard about that. Poor kid. No one deserves to get beat up like that.”

“Not even the guy who did it in the first place?”

JJ pondered, but shook her head. “Nah. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“You can’t tell me you’ve never come to violence before.”

“Once or twice, maybe, but nothing major. Although I’ve never been put in the situation. I reckon I’d resort to violence, and then feel bad about it afterwards, which is probably a little late, but… oh well. Just how I’m wired.”

“I’ve just met you. Overshare much?” Penelope didn’t say this in annoyance, but in jest, and JJ took it so.

“Sorry, guess I’m still in ‘counsellor mode’. Not only is it an awful experience, it’s also a lingering effect.”

JJ greatly appreciated Penelope not prying, although it was clear the girl was barely keeping her curiosity at bay. She decided to switch the subject.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What do you do for hobbies, activities, you know?”

“Mess around with computers, mainly. Oh, and make people feel weirded out.”

“You don’t seem too good at that. From what I can tell, at least.”

“… I honestly don’t know whether that’s a compliment or not.”

“Neither do I.” The girls shared a laugh. “Thanks for… this. I really needed it.”

Penelope smiled brilliantly. “Anytime.”

JJ knew, that unlike usual, this was not an empty promise.

*     *     *     *

Derek walked through the cafeteria. He hadn’t seen Spencer, but that wasn’t a surprise, and he realised that Spencer wouldn’t have appreciated the attention, anyway. He was still pondering the short conversation he’d had with JJ before. Or rather, the two important aspects.

The first was that, despite what Spencer may have thought, there were still decent people around who felt bad for him if he received a beatdown. People who cared what happened.

But a more important aspect, at least from his perspective, was the ‘empty promise’. Did he want to keep the empty promise? No. He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t, because as his friend, people would expect to go around to his house.

That was something that definitely couldn’t happen.

It sucked that the only thing keeping him from having really close friends was the other group of people that were supposed to be the most important in his life: his family. And he could mess around with all the guys in the school, and flirt shamelessly with the girls, but he couldn’t get anything deeper. Which was sad, but he rolled with the punches.

At least figuratively.

“Hey Derek! Come over, man. Sit down!”

Derek realised he’d been standing in the same spot for over a minute. He looked to who had called him over. He didn’t recognise the boy standing there, but he did recognise the boy sitting next to him.

_I guess Hankel_ didn’t _get suspended._

The boy saw him looking at Hankel. “Come welcome the returning hero!”

‘Returning hero.’ Derek’s blood began to boil, which never ended well, but he realised that he couldn’t just duke it out with Hankel in the middle of the school. And he couldn’t blame the boy standing next to him. _You can’t blame sheep for being sheep,_ he told himself.

So he simply shook his head, congratulated himself for getting the better of his temper, and backed out of the cafeteria. He wasn’t in the mood to give everyone who greeted him fake smiles. And he wasn’t feeling too hungry, either.

He walked through the hallways, the echo of his footsteps masked by practice. He’d snuck around many a time without being caught before. This time, however, it was because he didn’t want to be disturbed.

He could hear animated talking from somewhere near him, and he recognised one of the voices. JJ was talking rapidly, with another girl.

He snuck around the corner, quiet as a ninja, and peeked his head around. There he saw JJ, sitting on the floor, talking with another girl. She seemed familiar, and he remembered seeing her around once or twice. She didn’t seem to have many friends. Well, maybe she has one now.

He backed out of the hallway, giving them their privacy.

_Maybe I’ll keep that empty promise after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so that bit at the end with Morgan may have sucked. I'll be honest, it was kind of filler, to extend the chapter since the other four were otherwise occupied with one another. Au revoir!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the last to come out before school starts back up again, so unfortunately updates will be a lot slower... And this chapter was a little shorter than I would have liked, but it's just building up a little.
> 
> Thank you to LeirionBlack for your kudos and comment. The support that I'm getting from people like you is soooo nice to have, so thank you so much for that! :D
> 
> And finally, a humongous thanks to the brilliant ShadowsAtNight for yet another brilliant comment. <3 You, my friend, are one of a kind!

“Emily!”

Emily turned around to see a grinning blonde, inches away from her face. She took a step back. “Woah, Penelope. I don’t know what you’ve been taught, but drugs are _bad_ , okay?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “I’m not high. I was wondering where you were yesterday.”

“Well, in second lunch I was in the principal’s office. It seems that he forgot to introduce me to the school and decided to do so.”

“And in the first lunch?”

“Uhhhhh….”

“Look, Emily, I’m gonna get the info out of you one way or another. I talked to Mr. Hotchner, but he is like a brick wall. I figured it’d be easier to get it out of you.”

Emily couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Look, it can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Alright! Fine. I’ll tell you. Hotchner’s a brick wall, you say? I still think you could get information out of a rock.”

“Oh, hush. Go on! Were you on a date? Two days in and you’ve already found yourself a—”

“I was being tutored.”

Garcia was silent, a state that was unnatural for the girl. So much so, in fact, that Emily looked over at her, expecting her to be unconscious. But she finally spoke. “Cool. Tutoring. Doesn’t answer my question. Were you on a date?”

“I was being tutored by the guy who got beat up two days ago.”

“Oh, wow. Isn’t he younger?”

Emily nodded. “Yeah, but he is incredibly smart.”

“So, you were on a date with a boy that’s almost two years younger than you?”

“Oh my god, Garcia, it wasn’t a date, for fuck’s sake!” Emily tried to speak with force, but a laugh bubbled up and undermined her.

“Fair enough. I believe you.”

Emily was somewhat shocked. “You do? That was quick.”

“Well if you were actually attracted to the guy, then you wouldn’t be mock-outraged, you’d be actually outraged.”

“I don’t know that that’s how it works, but whatever. He was a decent teacher. I at least learned stuff, which is better than what I do in class. Everyone’s too far ahead for me to catch up, so Hotchner asked him to help me. He was discreet, at least.”

“Yeah, he seemed to be…”

“Why? Did something else happen?”

“No.”

Emily, taken aback by the curt answer, pressed on. “Come on. I confessed to you, now it’s your turn!”

But Garcia wasn’t laughing. “Please, Emily, just drop it. If you keep asking, then my resolve is going to break, and then I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Okay, Penelope. I’ll leave it alone.”

“Thanks. Now, how was the introduction from the principal? He only ever gives it to new students, so I’ve never had one, and I’ve never found out what the reception was like.” Garcia’s rapid-fire talk helped to divert the conversation.

“Boring as all hell. Nothing important, although he made me meditate for a minute to help me assimilate into the school.”

“He has a good heart.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Anyway, enough about me. What did you do while I wasn’t here?”

“Made a new friend. I talked to a girl named JJ.”

“Am I safe in assuming that’s a nickname? I sincerely hope that her parents didn’t name her that.”

“On behalf of anyone on the planet named Jay-Jay, I am offended. And when I said made a friend, I might have been stretching the truth. We talked for like ten minutes in a school hallway, and I don’t think that constitutes a friendship.”

“Oh, ouch, Penelope. Thanks for that.”

Penelope whirled around to face the voice behind her. “Hi, JJ! I didn’t mean… Sorry.”

“You didn’t mean sorry?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Good to know that we managed to clear the air with that one.”

“I just didn’t figure that you’d be around here or coming and talking to us.”

JJ waved her hand. “I usually hang out with my boyfriend, but he is currently MIA.”

“Who’s your boyfriend?”

“How long have you been with him?”

JJ chuckled. Not that she hadn’t been anticipating the stereotypical girly reaction from the two, but it was funny to her that after less than a minute into the conversation and they were already asking about her relationship. “Will LaMontagne. And a few months.”

Emily, who asked the latter question, obviously had no recognition of the name, and smiled, evidently happy for JJ. Garcia also smiled, but JJ couldn’t help noticing that the smile was a little forced. “Are you okay, Penelope?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Well, if he’s not here, then you’re free to sit with us. That is if you’re sitting with me, Emily?” Garcia questioned, realising that she’d just made a huge assumption.

“Of course!”

JJ looked at the two. They seemed genuine. “I would love to. Well, I’ll see you around!”

Garcia and Emily grinned back at her. “See ya,” they said in unison.

Emily turned to Garcia. “You might have fooled her, but I saw that. What’s wrong with her boyfriend?”

“He’s an asshole. Well, I think so, anyway.” Emily looked at her, shocked. Garcia seemed like the sort of person who thought sunshine came out of each and every orifice of the human body. “It’s not really my place to say, because I don’t really know him, but I try and make a point of talking to almost every person I see, and he’s one of the ones who doesn’t respond, so—”

“Penelope, breathe!”

“Sorry. I just know that it’s kind of harsh of me to say stuff like that.”

“Well, I’ll wait till I meet him to reserve judgment. But for now, keep those thoughts to yourself, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I’m not stupid.”

“I know that, but you seem to have a tendency to… blurt things out.”

“I am an excellent secret-keeper, thank you very much!” Emily giggled at the look on Garcia’s face.

“You keep telling yourself that, Pen.”

Pen. Now Garcia had a nickname, and that removed any annoyance from her expression. “Well, I certainly will try.”

That bit of levity to start the day certainly had Emily smiling more. _Today is going to be a good day._

*     *     *     *

“Get out! GET OUT!”

Spencer, on the other hand, was not having a good day. He quickly shut and locked the front door behind him, and sprinted to the end of the street. When he woke up to his mother screaming, he knew that today was not going to be very lucid for her. _That’s what happens when you think all medicine given to you is poison from the government._

He hated to leave her alone like this. Hell, he would have loved to have stayed with her, but knew that the improvement to her health would come at the detriment of his own. He’d worked so hard to shield his mother’s illness from everyone. He couldn’t lose that he skipped school and they called her up on a bad day.

But the school would call her if he was even late. Which was why, despite the burning in his lungs, he had to keep running, in order to make it on time. He’d done this enough that he had decent stamina. He just hoped and prayed that this wasn’t the day that Hankel and his goons tried to send him to the hospital. Again, he couldn’t go there. His mother wouldn’t let him.

Apparently, the gods above didn’t feel like fully punishing him today, as he made it to the school without incident, and ran up the steps. He checked his watch. He had five minutes to kill before classes started. He collapsed against the wall, attempting to regain the breath after his run to school, and was so exhausted that he didn’t notice someone walk up in front of him.

“Spencer?”

He looked up, recognising the voice. Derek sat down next to him. “What’s up with you?”

“Puffed out. Ran… all the way… here.”

“Here, have some water.” Spencer accepted the bottle gratefully, and chugged three quarters of it in one go. “Woah, slow down, you’re gonna drown.”

“No I’m not.”

“I was only joking.”

“I know you were. Just, uh, not really feeling in the mood. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Although if you’re feeling down, surely things that make you laugh should get you happier again.”

“That’s true. The endorphins released in your brain when you smile and laugh make you feel happy, which makes you smile more, which makes you happier. It’s a cycle that I wish I was more into.”

“Well, you can learn. Hey, you said that you go to the soccer games, right. Something about it being ‘stimulating’.”

“For my mind.”

“I can imagine. Look, you can be expected there, right?” Spencer nodded. “I’m going to sit near you. See if I can’t get you interested in some sports.”

“Wait, there’s a game soon? When?”

“Tomorrow. Girls play some team that’s near here. I don’t know what their name is. Hey, maybe that can be your extra incentive to watch the game! The girls are playing.”

Spencer reddened. “Shut up.”

“Loosen up, man. Come on. Anyway, apparently our girls have got it in the bag. Just let me know if you’re planning on showing up.”

“How do I do that?”

“Give me your phone.” Spencer obliged. Normally he wouldn’t trust anyone to hold it, but after everything that had happened over the previous few days, he trusted Derek. Derek fiddled around a little, and handed it back to Spencer. “There, now my number’s in there.”

“Cool. Uh, thanks, for this. I appreciate it.” Spencer was a little vague, but Derek got that he was talking about more than just the phone thing.

“Well, you can repay me by coming to the game tomorrow.”

Spencer nodded, just as the bell rang. Derek took off, and left Spencer alone, with only his thoughts for company.

Looking at his phone, he laughed out loud at the new contact name in his phone. _‘Adonis.’_

Maybe Derek could help him break into that happiness cycle.

*     *     *     *

JJ searched the cafeteria for the other two girls. She fully intended to take them up on their offer, despite what they may have been expecting. She liked being unpredictable; and she was tired of the other people that she hung out with. She couldn’t call them friends, though, that was for sure.

She finally spotted them. They sat in the back corner of the room, not exactly hiding from everyone, but respecting that groups of ten probably needed the room more than their party of two. Or three, as it was soon to become. Garcia was speaking rapidly, while Emily looked on with an amused smile.

JJ slid in next to them. “Hey. Finally found you guys.”

“Damn it.” Garcia slid $5 across the table. Emily pocketed it with a smug smirk.

“You were betting on whether I would show up?”

“Hey, in my defence, I’ve heard a lot of the same from others, but she hasn’t been here long enough to have the same cynicism.”

“Meh. I don’t mind. Although I’m glad I came and proved you wrong.” She grabbed her food and began wolfing it down. Penelope and Emily stared. “What?”

“Sweetie, you have fallen to the phenomenon known as ‘stress eating’. That, or you haven’t eaten in months, which I find unlikely.”

“No, you were right for the first one. I have a massive game tomorrow, and I’m always stressed beforehand. I’m in the soccer team,” she added, by way of explanation.

“Oh, cool. Well, good luck—”

“What Emily means is that we will be there and showing our utmost support. Right, Em?”

“Suurrre…”

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to come?” JJ felt a little saddened by that. But, she supposed, not everyone was into the sport like she was.

“Don’t get me wrong, I do. But my parents have probably got something for me to do over the weekend. I doubt they’d let me blow off a Saturday simply because ‘I know one of the people playing’. I will try to come, though.”

“Well, I appreciate that, at least.”

Penelope wasn’t having it. “If I kidnap you, then will you come? Come on, Em. Run away!”

“And get grounded? No thanks.”

“This can’t be legal.”

Emily giggled at Garcia’s outrage. It made her feel a little better. “Well, despite what you wish, I think it is. And I think that kidnapping is a little extreme, but I appreciate the thought. It seems we successfully distracted JJ from her stress eating, though, so there’s a small victory.”

The mere reference to stress-eating caused JJ to blanch, and her anxiety came back. “Ugh, why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Mention stress-eating. Or the game. Or--”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. I heard some people talking about it. They were arguing over whether you’ll win ten or eleven to nothing.”

“That just adds pressure!” Becoming slightly manic now, she took in a deep breath. It didn’t help a lot, but she calmed at least slightly.

“There’s ten…” Garcia looked to Emily, who nodded. “Ten other people on your team. If you do something wrong, you can fix it.”

“I appreciate all of this, but I’m still stressed. That part’s not gonna change.”

“Well, we tried.” There was a small lull in conversation, but it was never going to last long with Penelope there. “Hey, Emily, maybe you should bring your date!”

“Penelope!” Emily barked. “Not my date.”

“I know, honey, I just couldn’t resist.”

“Your date?” JJ was soundly confused.

“My tutor. Garcia’s just teasing.”

“You have a tutor?”

“Ugh, don’t tell anyone, please.”

“It doesn’t matter. What class?”

“Hotchner’s maths class.”

“Damn. Well, that’s understandable, I guess.”

“And no, he wasn’t bad company, although he doesn’t seem the type to go to a soccer game. But if he’s there, feel free to talk to him, Pen.”

“His name?”

“Spencer.”

“Name stored. Being processed.”

“Oh, wait. That’s… that’s the kid who was being hit a few days ago.” The other girls nodded solemnly. “Derek walked with him back to his house. Derek’s definitely going to be there, he always is. If this Spencer wants to make at least one male friend, he’s going to go too.”

“Sounds good. Maybe we could meet up after the game. Go somewhere.”

“Not a bad idea, Pen. Now I really hope I can make. This is sounding good!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So they're finally all going to meet at the soccer game, which I haven't written yet... I so desperately want to get it exactly right, because it could set up the entire story! Auf wiedersehen!
> 
> P.S. Will... is not going to stay with JJ. Sorry Will fans, but it's not happening. The split of Will and not-Will fans seems to be about 40-60, so hopefully I please most of you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm proud of myself for managing to get this up before all the homework drowns me... speaking of which, my Year 11 textbooks weigh about 50 thousand kilos. I'm gonna need a chiropractor.
> 
> And, time for the shout-outs. You should be used to them by now. Thanks so much to the incredible ShadowsAtNight for yet another inspiring comment, and thanks to the newest reader, imsleepinggoaway (fantastic name btw), for your lovely comment. Nice to know that I'm still instilling happiness in readers old AND new!

Dozens of people from her school came over to wish JJ good luck with her game. But she only had thoughts for a specific two girls. Nodding her thanks to another girl, who told her she would be fantastic, she ran over to where she saw Penelope and Emily.

“Hey guys.”

“JJ! You’re here! Doesn’t the game start soon?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to come over and say thanks for yesterday. Emily, I thought you wouldn’t make it!”

“Don’t look at me, this was all Pen.”

JJ turned to the shorter girl, who smiled. “She texted me, to let me know that she couldn’t make, but of course I wasn’t ever going to let that slide, so she texted me her address, and I went over and told her parents that I was kidnapping her. They weren’t happy about it, but while they could deny Emily, they couldn’t deny this beautiful face.”

JJ laughed. “I thought that kidnapping was too extreme for you, Emily.”

“Well… it worked, so I guess I won’t complain _too_ much. Now go, JJ. It starts soon, I know that much.”

“Alright. Thanks again.”

“We didn’t do anything.”

JJ groaned, but didn’t have time to argue the point. As she turned and left, she heard the two lightly bickering about whether they had in fact done anything. She felt blessed to have met them.

As she moved to the changing rooms, Will walked beside her. “Hey, where were you yesterday?”

“Out with the man-flu. Listen, were they bugging you?”

“Bugging me?”

“Yeah, those girls out there. I haven’t seen them before, so if… You could just tell them to go away, you know.”

“They’re my friends. Look out, Will, these are the _girls’_ changing rooms.” She ducked inside, leaving Will on the outside gaping.

Why was that so hard to believe? Although it wasn’t like she’d spoken to them before yesterday, when he was away. Maybe he was just looking out for her, like usual.

She shook off any doubts she had, and started to strip off.

*     *     *     *

Morgan hadn’t gone to the game with any major plan in action. Spencer had let him know earlier that he was coming, but, after a little badgering, also revealed he was bringing his books. Morgan accepted the half-victory, and left for the field where the match would be taking place.

He enjoyed this sport. While not as physical as his sport, it was just as tactical, and just as passionate, and he enjoyed watching a good passing play almost as much as a perfect attacking move in football. And he thought, with a little prodding, he could get someone else to enjoy the sport as well.

“Hey, Derek, come over here man! Come sit!”

Derek appreciated the offer, but replied, “No thanks, fellas. Maybe next time.” He wasn’t giving in now, after all the effort. He was afraid of being seen at the game. Not at being seen with Spencer: he’d figured out a while ago that Spencer was a far better person than any of the people he would usually sit with. But he didn’t want to deal with their questions as to why he was ‘sitting with the nerd’ or avoiding them. He just wasn’t in the mood.

Not that he was ever in the mood to do so.

Spencer had let him know that he was already there, but it was still quite early, with a while before kick-off. He had to have gotten a good seat. Which struck Morgan as odd, because if all he planned to do was study, why did he need to sit close to the action? But he caught sight of the young genius sitting up near the bleachers.

“Spencer!” The other boy looked up at the sound of his name, and grimaced when he saw Derek, which Morgan pretended not to notice. “It’s a lot better to see the game from down here, where you’re closer to the action!” Spencer responded by holding up his book. Derek couldn’t see what it was, but he didn’t need to. “You said you were going to watch some. At least get down here.”

“I never said that!”

Derek thought back to their conversation. It was true, he didn’t, but he wasn’t getting away that easily. “Well, you’re doing it anyway!” Spencer rolled his eyes.

Derek saw him get up and jump down off the bleachers. “See? That wasn’t hard.”

“I came down here to shut you up, and there’s no detriment to my reading no matter where I sit. I just didn’t want to take up all the room for people who actually cared about the game.”

“Today, you are one of those people, kid. Just once.”

Rolling his eyes again, he nodded. “Just once. Now can I keep reading?”

Derek grinned toothily. “Sure. The game starts in about ten minutes. I am going to meet some of my other friends, but I will be back, hopefully with food. Food makes everything better.”

“Did you know that—”

Derek shushed him. “No, I’m pretty sure I don’t know whatever food fact you were about to spout, and I’m perfectly happy with keeping it that way.” And with that, he left.

Finding JJ wasn’t a difficult task. It was easy to spot her when he could hear the good wishes coming from a mile away. “Hey, JJ!”

“Yeah, Morgan?”

Derek stared. She had sounded just a _little_ tetchy. “I’m not here for that. I’m here to ask you if I can do something during the game. Nothing to interrupt the flow…” he added hastily, realising how he could be misunderstood. But he’d had a fun idea and wanted to put it into practice. “Here, I’ll whisper it.”

He whispered it into JJ’s hair. She pulled away quickly. “No!”

“So I can do it? Thanks JJ!”

“No, Derek, I am not letting a fi—” But Derek was already gone. She sighed. What was done was done. She searched around for the two girls she had talked to yesterday.

Derek chuckled to himself. There was no harm, no foul, so he knew there wasn’t a problem. Not a major one, anyway. But all he had left to do was find the food that he had promised Spencer.

In the line at the supermarket for hotdogs, he contemplated the game. He did actually care about the result, and it was a big one for their side; with finals looming ever nearer, they were just outside of the top 6. However, playing one of the cellar-dwellers was sure to help improve that.

He thanked the woman for the two hot dogs, and ran back to the grounds: just in time, it seemed, as the girls walked out onto the field. Plopping himself on the seat next to Spencer, he grinned. “Time for the game.”

“Just let me finish this chapter.” Spencer didn’t look up, but he knew that Derek had nodded anyway. Derek didn’t know that he could have read this entire book in about 10 minutes. Derek didn’t need to know. Grinning slightly, Spencer continued to read the information slowly.

Morgan was fidgeting beside him. He wasn’t concerned as to whether Spencer was going to look up; he had an entire two hours to work on that. No, he was waiting for the perfect moment for his idea. While walking out, JJ caught his eye, sent him one last look, but Derek pretended not to notice. It wasn’t like he was planning anything massive; just a little fun at Spencer’s (and possibly JJ’s) expense.

The game kicked off. Morgan was worried at first, but after three minutes he relaxed. He saw who was in control of this game, and it looked as if the three points were in the bag this time. Sure enough, they put in one goal, and a second, to set the tone of the game.

Morgan looked over at Spencer. He was still reading the book, but Morgan noticed the weird movement in his eyes. He was staring at the same area on the page, but before Morgan could pull him up on it, another voice called out. “Spencer!”

The two boys turned around. There stood Emily and Garcia. The two had sat, looking for any sign of the boy, but had only now found him, as his face was partially obscured by the massive book he was holding. “Hey, Emily.”

Emily took the seat next to Spencer, while Penelope sat herself next to Morgan. They grinned at each other, before Emily turned to Spencer. “So, Spencer. Why is it that you’ve come to this game, yet are not watching it? That _is_ the purpose of coming, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is, but I like to study here.”

Morgan had had enough. Grabbing the book, he held it out of Spencer’s reach. And simultaneously realised that the hilarity would be better if he had accomplices. As Spencer settled down and attempted to focus on the game, he quickly whispered to Garcia what he wanted her to say. She grinned evilly.

Spencer was trying so hard. When he figured something out, you could bet that he wouldn’t ever lose that knowledge. The trouble was that he couldn’t get the knowledge in the first place. The game was a scrappy one, and with all the pauses and whistles blown through the game, Spencer was struggling to keep up. He sighed and looked down at his feet.

Garcia noticed this. It was time. “Hey, Spencer.” Spencer’s head snapped back up to look at her. Her face was the picture of sympathy. “If you’re struggling to understand the game, try this: focus on one player, figure out what they do, and work from that. Look, here’s someone now. Focus on her.” Garcia pointed. Of course, her finger was pointed at JJ.

“Alright.” Spencer tried. His focus was usually razor-sharp, and when he set his mind to something, he could rarely be pulled away. That was what Morgan had been banking on.

Spencer looked at JJ, attempting to figure out what it was she did. She received the ball, and danced her way around a dangerous slide tackle coming in at her from the side. Spencer watched her sprint away up the sidelines, and whip the ball into the penalty box. It ricocheted off another girl’s head, and bounced past the keeper. 3-0. Spencer watched JJ celebrate with her team mates.

“Spencer!” Spencer snapped around to see smirking faces. Morgan seemed the happiest.

“What?”

“We called your name three times!” Derek raised an eyebrow. “See something you like?”

“Wha…? N-no.”

“’N-no.’” mimicked Morgan. “That, weirdly enough, sounded like a yes. Did you hear a yes, girls?” Garcia nodded enthusiastically, while Emily just shot a wry smile.

“No, I was just distra—” _No, poor choice of words Spencer, try again._ “I was focused on understanding the game.”

“The game? Do you mean the soccer game, or—”

“The soccer game.” Spencer knew he was being played. The only problem was, he didn’t know how to counteract it.

“Sure.”

“You set me up, you assholes.”

The three couldn’t keep it up after Spencer’s accusations. Emily and Morgan collapsed in tears, while Garcia patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be honest, you were like putty in our hands there, munchkin.”

His face screwed up. “Munchkin?”

“Yeah, because you’re younger and smaller.”

“I’m taller than you are.”

This prompted another fit of giggles. “I’m a girl. And you’re completely missing the point.”

Spencer rolled his eyes, and walked off, as the teams departed for half-time. He looked back just in time to see the others looking at each other, concerned. He smirked. _Good_. If the only way he could get back at them was via a little guilt trip, then he was milking that cow dry.

The guilt of the other three was still on the back of their mind, but they figured they’d be able to make it up to Spencer. Penelope wanted to go and apologise, saying that she didn’t want her first meeting with the guy to end like that, but the other two outvoted her and convinced her that they needed to pay a visit to JJ, and maybe have a giggle at her expense.

They caught JJ standing next to the water tank. JJ felt extremely dehydrated, and there was still a half of the game to go. She enjoyed her position on the wing, but it did require a lot of running, hence JJ’s exhaustive state. Due to this, she didn’t notice the three until they were right on top of her.

She turned to Morgan. “You’d better not have.” She didn’t need to say anything else.

He shrugged. “Uh… well, in my defense, it was her who did it in the end.” He pointed at Garcia.

“What? You just threw me under the bus like that? Really? Also, it was his idea.”

“Uh-huh. And we’re meant to go to the café with these guys after the game?”

The girls had completely forgotten about that. They hadn’t even told Morgan, who looked perplexed, but the girls laughed even harder than before, imagining the hilarity that was bound to occur.

“Oh… my… god…’ Emily called out between shaky breaths.

“It’s going to be so awkward!’ Penelope exclaimed. She looked over at JJ, who had a face straight as an arrow. “Awww… Cheer up, JJ. I know you’re not really annoyed.”

“No, I suppose I’m not. Was it worth it?”

“I mean, yeah.” Morgan chuckled. “Actually, speaking of which…” he pulled the girls in closer and whispered humorously. JJ, once again, sprang away.

“NO! No, Morgan. What the hell?”

“Yes? Yes it is. Thanks for your cooperation, JJ.” He threw an arm around Garcia, who looked mildly surprised, but accepted it.

“Morgan! Morgan! I’m not doing it!”

“Relax, JJ. He knows. He was joking… I think. I’m still wondering this is a little too much teasing for a kid I’ve known for two or three days.”

“I think it definitely is.”

“Oh, do you think you’re that attractive? Getting a little overconfident now, are we…?”

“Don’t even. That’s enough for now. I need to relax… not attempt to hold in laughter.”

“Sure, JJ. See you later. Grab another three, yeah?”

“Will do, Em. See ya.”

 *     *     *     *

Spencer was sitting and reading his physics textbook, although not focusing too much. He was still a little upset at the teasing, but he knew they meant it in good fun, and he grinned when he saw the three coming back.

“Hey, Spencer. Sorry about—”

“Don’t worry about it. Well, I mean, do worry, because I’ll get you back one day, but I don’t care. Too much.”

“I didn’t think you would care at all.”

“Any conversations revolving around that sort of thing are kind of uncomfortable for me. I don’t know why.”

“It’s a lack of experience, Spencer.” Spencer glared at him. “Okay, that’s not what I meant, I meant a lack of experience with friends, but that brings up another interesting point… have you ever had a girlfriend?”

“The answer to that is something that I’m choosing to withhold right now.”

“Come on, Reid, you’re killing me here.”

“Good.” He turned his attention back to the field, where the teams were emerging, and, if begrudgingly, Morgan did so too. After a moment Garcia nudged Morgan. “You still wanna know, don’t you?” she whispered.

“Yeah.”

She laughed, and sat back to try and follow the game.

Despite what had gone on, Spencer had actually picked up on a little understanding of the game by watching JJ, and made a point to thank Garcia later for her help. Due to that, he found himself far more interested in the game than the first half, and even found himself cheering when the final whistle blew. 5-1.

“Where is she? She wouldn’t have just ditched us… I don’t think.”

“I’m sure she didn’t,” reassured Morgan, although it sounded like he was unsure of it himself. He hadn’t forgotten how empty JJ’s promise to him was.

“You’re right, I didn’t. Why do you keep assuming that I’ll ditch?” JJ asked.

“Well, we didn’t know where else you could have been. You played great, JJ!” Garcia practically squealed.

“You didn’t have a clue what was going on, did you?”

“Well… no, I didn’t, but I’m being supportive. You definitely did a lot of running.”

“Thanks for that, Pen.” JJ said dryly.

Spencer smiled. JJ was the last member of this group he had to meet, and despite the awkwardness he presumed would occur, she seemed unperturbed and like quite a nice person.

“So. Shall we?” JJ asked.

“Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original plan was to have the cafe scene in this chapter too, but hey... it ran away from me. I guess we'll see what happens.  
> Now... turn away if you don't want major spoilers for the future of this fic.
> 
> SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
> 
> Okay, if you're reading this, you don't care about spoilers, so let's keep going, shall we?
> 
> My resolve has cracked. The original plan was for this to be a completely gen fic, but the hopeless romantic voicein me (hopeless both at love and when I'm in love) has yelled at me for not including a ship of some sort. Obviously I whimpered and asked for forgiveness, but it wants to be satisfied. I have to do so.
> 
> My thought process: 1. I'm doing a het ship. I may do other types of ships in the future, but I'm not experienced when it comes to these things, and I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I am heterosexual myself, so I felt it would be easiest for me.
> 
> 2\. Morgan and Garcia won't be in a relationship. I love the weird flirting thing they do with everyone (yes, while they flirt predominantly with each other, they flirt with everyone else too, although I can see how you might have been distracted ;)). I would love to write them like so, which makes more sense if they're both single.
> 
> 3\. So that leaves me with two slashes. JJ/Reid and Emily/Reid. I don't know which I'm choosing (although I'm certainly leaning one way for sure), and it's also why I alluded to relationships with both of these pairs.
> 
> SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END
> 
> Soooo... after that, I just have to say, once again, watch this space, and I will see you on the other side!
> 
> Love from Numsy <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS!!! I got a laptop! Which means that updates will probably be a lot faster than I thought they'd be! Fantastic! They still won't be daily, or anything ridiculous like that, because I still have other novels to be writing, but hopefully this speeds up the process! :)
> 
> The response from the last chapter was the best I've had! Thanks to the one and only highfunctioningwhovian for their kudos and uplifting comments! Thanks to icccedtea and SparklesandSunshine for the first two bookmarks that this story has ever gotten, which is great. And thanks, once again, to the enthusiastic, hyper-active, and just generally awesome ShadowsAtNight for comment number 6!!!

JJ pushed the door to the café open. The man behind the counter saw her and smiled immediately. “Ah, JJ. Are you here with that Will boy again?”

JJ chuckled at the old man. “Not this time, George. No, I came with a few other friends.” The man peered around JJ’s slight frame and saw the four standing behind her.

“Wow, JJ. Invite half the town, did you?”

“It does look that way, doesn’t it?”

“Well, then. What would you like to order? And what are your names?” George addressed the other four with this sentence. They made their introductions, George saying hello to each of them in turn, before stopping at Spencer.

“Hello again, Spencer. Good to see you back.”

Spencer blinked. “I didn’t think you would remember me.”

“Not many people come in here and are as polite as you are. Then again, not many people come in here at all!”

Spencer smiled a little under the praise. Turning to the other four, he explained, “I used to come here occasionally, although I hadn’t been recently.”

“Yes, I’d missed you. You were always good to have an intelligent conversation with; even with your nose constantly in a book.” George smiled.

“I’m surprised that I’d never seen you here before. I come with Will all the time.” JJ nearly corrected herself with the past tense. They hadn’t been in almost a month.

“Well, like he said, my nose was always in a book.”

“And you were distracted with other things.” Morgan smirked at JJ, who poked her tongue out in return. George watched the interaction fondly.

“Well, as much as I hate to finish this conversation, I do need the money, so boys and girls, what would you like?”

The five made their orders, then went and sat in the corner of the café. It was only a small place, and the corner might have felt crowded otherwise, with the happy atmosphere in the room, they all felt almost at home. Still, none of them really knew what to say to break the ice.

Emily seemed amused more than anything. Penelope noticed this, and questioned her. Emily responded quickly, saying, “We are the weirdest assortment of people to ever hang out in a café together.”

The five looked at one another, and burst out laughing. And just like that, the ice melted.

“So, Emily. How do you know Spencer?” This from Morgan, who was the only one in the group that didn’t know about it.

Garcia opened her mouth, most likely to cover for Emily, but Prentiss beat her to the punch. “He’s my tutor.” The others looked surprised that she was willing to reveal this information, but to Emily, there was no problem. Her interactions with JJ, Penelope and Spencer had proven, at least in her opinion, that the info wasn’t as embarrassing as she thought it was. And true to form, Morgan laughed light-heartedly.

“Well, it is fair I suppose. Who could teach as well as the pretty boy here?”

“Uh, how about actual teachers?”

“Okay, who’s as smart as pretty boy here?”

Emily had no response to that, but Spencer did. “There’s a few of them, such as Kim Ung-Yong, Judit Polgar, and—”

“I think the question was rhetorical.”

“Oh. Also, what’s with these nickname bits? Pretty Boy? Really? Of everything you could have chosen…”

“It’s meant to be a term of endearment, sweets.” Garcia chuckled. “And I reckon that the nickname suits you pretty well.” Spencer’s cheeks got a pink tinge, but he smiled.

George came over, interrupting them (although the interruption was very much welcome), and gave them their food. They spoke their thanks, then continued talking.

“So… I have a question.” JJ began. “Could you guys follow the game at all? Other than you, Morgan.”

“No.”

“No.”

“Kind of.”

JJ laughed. “Well, thanks for the show of support at least, even if you didn’t know what was going on. What did you mean by ‘kind of’, Spencer?”

“I understood better in the second half, after Penelope helped me to…” he trailed off, remembering who he was talking to.

JJ smiled. She knew the real reason for his embarrassment, of course, but decided that he’d suffered enough for one day, and changed the subject. “Wow, Pen, you taught a subject you don’t even understand! Amazing!”

Penelope was not as kind as JJ. “Oh no, I know plenty about that subject…”

Spencer continued talking, mainly to divert away from that topic. “I come down all the time anyway, although this time Morgan forced me to actually watch instead of read a physics book.”

“Physics?” Spencer nodded. “Well, can physics be used to improve my game?”

“100%.”

JJ stared at him. “Thanks for that. You really know how to stroke a girl’s ego.”

Morgan jumped in. “Reid, come on man, you’re not that clueless!” he said, causing everyone around the table to chuckle lightly.

“Sorry. I didn’t try to be mean or anything.”

“I never thought you did. But seriously, give me an example.”

“When you’re making a long pass from one side to the other, you keep your body too close to the ball. If you increase the radius between your body and the ball, you’ll be much more accurate.”

“Oh. Right. Well, I’ll try it next time. Now, you two…” she started, pointing at Emily and Penelope, “you didn’t even try and check on anything about it before the game?”

“In my defence, I at least knew how many people are meant to be on the field. Penelope doesn’t seem to have caught on yet.”

“Hey! Look, it’s just such a random number, okay? Why 22? And I have so many better things to do than check up on a sport that I have never seen nor will ever play.”

“Such as?”

“Uhhhhh… I’ll get back to you on that one.” Penelope shook her head. “But, as I said, you did lots of running, and I’m sure we were all proud.”

Derek grimaced. “I don’t know if ‘proud’ is the word I would use. Makes me sound like a parent. I don’t think anyone would want to parent you, JJ.”

“Hey!” she said indignantly. “My mother and I have a _mutual_ love, thank you very much.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Garcia smirked.

Emily noticed that Spencer hadn’t been paying much attention to the banter between the three, instead diverting his attention to the clock. She slid next to him. “You okay? Somewhere to be?”

“Yeah, uh… I need to get back home soon. In fact, I should probably get going.”

“Are you sure? I mean, with you here, we can direct all the jokes to you. At least you’re gracious, which I don’t think I would be.”

Spencer smiled at her offer, appreciating the sentiment, but shook his head. “No, I need to go. It’s for my mom.” He quickly said his goodbyes and left the café. He’d had a good time with them, but he didn’t honestly think that any real friendships were going to come from it, and he had other responsibilities to attend to, responsibilities that he didn’t think he was ready to share with them yet.

He was sad, he realised. Sad that these weren’t people that he would ever forge something deeper with. And sure, they seemed like good people, but there were plenty of good people in the world, and Spencer wasn’t on first name terms with any of them. Hell, they avoided him most of the time, due to the trouble that being seen with him could bring, and he couldn’t blame them.

Plus, he couldn’t bring anyone into his house. His mom wouldn’t allow it. Or rather, she couldn’t be trusted to be lucid when they came over, and who would know what could happen then?

Emily was the only one that really seemed to be concerned with Spencer’s disappearance, but she couldn’t accept his excuse at face value. She didn’t think that a kid that was as bullied and maligned as Spencer was would run from them that easily. No, something else was going on, and she really wanted to know what it was.

She forced herself to look away from Spencer’s retreating figure, and back to the other three people there. Somehow, the conversation had been steered over to Morgan’s physique.

“I don’t know, I reckon they’re the best in town, JJ.” JJ shook her head, grinning.

“Sorry, I zoned out. What were we talking about again?”

“We were talking about my guns.”

“Wow. Fascinating.” Emily’s delivery was deadpan, causing Garcia to snort. “But I think there’s something more pressing we need to talk about.”

“Spencer?” Penelope guessed, and Emily nodded. “Em, he had to head home. Nothing weird about that.”

“You didn’t see his face. He was devastated. And something tells me he’s going to avoid us at school, too.”

“Why?” Morgan wondered, but answered his own question. “He doesn’t want to ruin our lives.”

“Forget that, I don’t think he trusts us at all! Which is really sad.”

“I know Pen. But he won’t be able to avoid us forever, and I have to meet with him on Wednesday at least. I’ll talk to him then.”

“None of us are going to do that, are we?” Garcia asked, sounding fearful. They all shook their heads quickly.

“But we don’t have the same problems that Spencer does. He’s not used to having people to talk to; I’d hazard a bet that he thinks that we’re going to ditch him, so he’s doing it first.”

“But, JJ, that’s completely understandable.”

“I’m not going to ditch him!”

“You’ve known him for two hours.” JJ had no response to that. “Look, it isn’t a question of me not trusting you guys. But look at it from his perspective; he hasn’t known any of us for long. We’ve all had friends before, but he hasn’t had that luxury, and it’s going to take a while before he feels like we’re actually friends.”

“Are you considering a career in psychology, Emily?”

“No. Sounds absolutely shit,” she chuckled.

“Now I feel awful for talking about my amazing muscles, when he’s having those problems.”

“Don’t worry about it. We can’t just talk about him. And I’ll tolerate your cocky talk, just as long as you don’t try to give me a show.”

“I’m not gonna make any promises.”

“You don’t have to make any promises with me…” Garcia winked.

“I promise the opposite. Name the time and place.”

JJ and Emily gagged, as the other two laughed at each other. “Wow, you two are puke-worthy.”

“Hey, it’s harmless fun.”

“Am I only fun to you, baby?” Morgan pouted.

“You are that, and soooo much more…”

“Okay! Moving on!” JJ practically shouted. “How did you two meet each other?” She pointed between Emily and Penelope.

“Hallway incident.” Emily spoke curtly.

“Yeah, but we talked more later on in ICT. I stole her passport and nude pictures.”

“What? No you didn’t!”

“I’ll show you proof right now, Em.”

“That’s going to be difficult, as I’ve never taken any nude pictures, so pictures are going to be hard to come by.”

Garcia twitched for a bit, but finally conceded. “Okay, fine. I was trying for a confession.”

“But I’m innocent.”

“Whatever. I did get your passport at least.”

JJ and Morgan looked doubtful, but Emily conceded that point. “Okay, yeah, but you were still lying.”

“With a bit of photoshop, it won’t be a lie for much longer,” Garcia said in a sing-songy voice.

Emily blanched, and Penelope cackled. “You are pure evil.” Garcia looked over and saw JJ’s wide eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” JJ breathed a sigh of relief, but Penelope wasn’t finished. “No, it’d be much more fun to make you into a mugshot.”

“You’re scary.”

“Thank you. I do try.”

“Although you do seem a lot less scary when you’re trying to follow a soccer game with little to no success. Hey, you even managed to help Spencer understand the game!”

“Was he actually following the game?”

“Yeah, I did do that. I could be a teacher. There we go, future jobs sorted. I’m a teacher, Em’s a psychologist—”

“I already said no!”

“—JJ’s a soccer player, and Derek’s obviously a stripper.”

“I would think that I’m at least graceful enough to be a male model. Or a pornstar. Whatever works.”

“Uh, kids?” George appeared from the side, and from the way he was standing, he could’ve been there for hours. Maybe he was, and the teens just didn’t notice.

“Yeah, George?”

“I think JJ has some fans.” He pointed to the storefront window. “I managed to keep them out, because you looked like you wanted quiet time, but it would be nice if you could get rid of them.”

“Will do, George.” JJ turned to the girls and Morgan. “I will be back soon. Hopefully.”

“Wow, JJ, who knew you were such a celebrity?”

JJ snuck a cheeky middle finger backwards at Morgan as she walked towards the door. There were a few of her ‘friends’, and a few of the girls from the soccer team. While JJ might not have been a celebrity, she certainly felt like she was dealing with overbearing paparazzi.

“Who are they?”

“Friends from school.”

“That girl doesn’t have any friends.”

JJ assumed that she was talking about Garcia, and grew irritated. “Well, clearly she does.”

“Are you cheating on Will with Derek now?”

That question simply infuriated JJ. She would never do something like that, even if she had been _at all_ attracted to the subject. “What the fuck?! No!”

“Woah, sorry. It just seems weird that you’re hanging out with them.”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Hey, come with us! The team are going out to celebrate the game!”

JJ saw no way out of the predicament. She couldn’t say no, or that could cause rifts in the team that she didn’t want to deal with. “Alright. Fine.” She cast an apologetic glance back inside the café window, that she hoped they could see. Fortunately, they could, and Morgan gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture.

As she left, Penelope sighed. “And then there were three.”

Emily shook her head. “It’s about time to leave, anyway.”

“Says who?!”

“Says my parents. Remember? You said you’d have me back by…” she glanced at the clock, “five minutes from now.”

“Oh. Shit, I did. Sorry, Derek.”

“No problem. I had to head home soon anyway.” He shrugged.

“Thanks for the coffee… George,” she said with a smile.

“My pleasure, Emily. I hope to see you five back again soon.”

“So do I, George.” And with that, they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that physics soccer thing? Don't know if it's true, or if at all relates to physics. But I've played soccer for 11 years, and I found that that tactic really improved my accuracy on long passes.
> 
>  
> 
> Hopefully I did this chapter justice. It was a big one, the first full meeting of the main five, so I just tried to make sure it wasn't an anti-climax! Hopefully it worked!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh... I'm finally starting to slow down. I was never going to get this out immediately, and this is probably faster than they're going to be in the future, but I will try as hard as I can to continue quickly, but still with quality.
> 
> And now: time for the regular shout-outs! Thank you to zhangxinna for a bookmark AND a kudos! Thanks to icccedtea for the kudos! And thanks to the two unbelievable readers, the dedicated and brilliant highfunctioningwhovian, and to the undeterrable and simply incredible ShadowsAtNight! The support for this fic has been incredible, and I hope that you stay until the end!

It was a good day.

Spencer found that odd. Traditionally, Monday was considered the worst day of the week by some margin, and on top of that, it was usually the day that his mother’s episodes seemed to be the worst. But she was reasonably lucid, and wished Spencer a good day as he left the house, hoping that he would bring over the friends he had made. Spencer was surprised she remembered, but realised that it was never going to happen anyway.

But his mother was struggling enough, and he didn’t want to burden her with his problems. Plus, he highly doubted that he would ever actually talk to them again. Sure, he had to tutor Emily, but eventually she’d lose interest in him, and then he would be back to having no reason to talk to any of them.

It was a grim reality, but Spencer had always prided himself on his realism.

Morgan, on the other hand, had _not_ had a good start to the day. He ran out of the home, his new father hurling abuse at him. “Pussy!” Honestly, if these people were going to have such a problem with raising other children, why volunteer to do it at all?

Contrary to many people his age, school was actually Derek’s favourite place to be. It was a safe haven, away from the harsh words of his home. And lately, it had become to people he found he quite liked. Spencer and the girls. He knew he’d love to hang out with them again. The only question was how he would deal with the other commitments, and the other people he was expected to hang out with.

Penelope was happy. Well, happier than normal. With an extra bounce in her step, she practically ran to the bus stop, simply so full of happiness of life. She was ecstatic that she found people, that Emily had made friends with Spencer, that everything in her life had come together to provide her with four very different people that she genuinely liked and wanted to spend time with. She just needed the others to feel the same way.

Emily was a little more cautious than Garcia about showing her happiness, but that was only because she was in a car with her mother. On the inside, she was full of life, but apparently too much enjoyment of life was bad for her, so if her mother saw her true emotions at that time, she’d never be allowed to see them again.

Despite that, Emily never wanted to move again. She was tired of it, never having connections, and now that she had found nice, accepting people to make friends with, she was never letting go of that. She thought, or at least hoped, that they all felt the same way about being around one another.

JJ was the only one who wasn’t completely happy with Saturday’s events. They’d won the game, and they’d gone to the best café in the world (at least, in her opinion), but afterwards she was forced to go along with celebrations for the game, where she was just bombarded with questions about why she was with those people. Her team mates simply refused to believe that she liked them as people. JJ shuddered to think what would have happened if Spencer had been there then as well.

And Will. She wasn’t happy with him at the moment. While he was a good shoulder to cry on, a decent ear to talk to, and a fantastic flirt, he was also dismissive of his newfound friendships, and little help in her internal problems. JJ even wondered whether he had sympathy for her at all, or whether it was just an act to ensure she didn’t get annoyed with him.

But, she could move past it. She had to, otherwise her friends would wonder about her commitments and whether she actually wanted to be around them again. JJ knew where they were coming from, but it still hurt a little bit.

*     *     *     *

“Psst. Em.”

Emily turned around in her seat. She recognised that voice, but she hadn’t even realised that he was in her current class. “Hey, Morgan.”

“Are we…?”

“Yeah, I think so.” The question didn’t need to be spelled out, Emily understood.

“Good, because I think—”

“Miss Prentiss. I suggest that if you want to catch up in this class, you pay attention to the board.” Emily rolled her eyes, which was a regrettable decision, as the teacher caught the end of it. “Last warning, Emily.”

“Yes, miss.” Once the teacher had turned away, she stuck up two middle fingers. She didn’t know what she had done to land herself with this hag, but she was glad she at least knew somebody in the class to talk to. She wrote a note.

_You think what?_

_I think Reid has other ideas._

_Yeah, me too. But I’ll talk to him on Wednesday._

_Cool, thanks._

Two students next to her were giggling, and discussing their weekends, something that the teacher caught a hold of. Emily prepared for the girls next to her to get sprayed.

“What did I just say to you, Emily?”

“Huh?”

“I said, ‘last warning’. And yet you continue to talk.”

Livid, Emily restrained herself from shouting back. “Miss, I wasn’t talking.”

“I saw you. You’re going to stay back for ten minutes.”

Once she was done with her second dressing-down, Emily turned to Morgan. “This is bullshit.”

Morgan couldn’t do much but shrug. And when the bell rang, and Emily stayed in her seat, Morgan wondered whether he should wait for her, but reasoned that Emily would probably be behind for even longer than ten minutes. So he headed off for lunch.

Sitting at a corner table, he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the other four, but the only one her found was JJ, which seemed ironic, because they were the ones that everybody expected to ditch, but the opposite was true. “Have you seen the other guys?”

“No? I figured they’d already be here. I was pretty late.”

“Were you delayed by a certain someone?” Morgan grinned.

“Ah, you’re going to have to be more specific than that.” JJ realised how that sounded, and backtracked quickly. “Yes, I was.”

Morgan was never going to let go that easily. “I know. Obviously your boyfriend, but I imagine any girl would need some preparation when coming over to speak to me.”

“Ew, no. Although that was something that my team asked me outside the coffee shop.”

“What? Whether you were attracted to me?”

JJ nodded. “I told them no, of course, but they couldn’t fathom why I was spending time with you guys outside a school setting.”

“JJ… you need to answer truthfully in these situations. Don’t deny it.”

“Back to the point, have _you_ seen any of them?”

“I haven’t seen Reid or Garcia, but Emily got detention.”

“What?” JJ laughed. “How did she manage that?”

“We had Mrs. B.”

“No explanation needed. Why start teaching if you clearly don’t want to do it?”

Morgan knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but he winced at the similarity to the question he had asked himself that same morning. _Why take in the children?_ Derek still didn’t have an answer.

JJ was scared by Morgan’s silence, secretly wondering if he was figuring out her secret. Of course, he knew that it was pointless, he had no way of figuring that out intuitively, but with the counsellor’s meetings supposed to be drawing to a close, she’d been informed that she hadn’t had enough change, and that she had to do it for longer. _That’s exactly why I wanted to stop it!_

“Hey! Derek!”

Derek whirled around, not recognising the voice immediately, but thought the face looked familiar. “Hi?”

“Come on, man. The coach wanted you to talk to your team more often! Not hang out with randoms.” The way that the boy said that word insinuated to Morgan that he had seen him on Saturday, which annoyed Morgan. But much like JJ at that time, Morgan was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

JJ saw his dilemma. “Go. Think of it as payback for when I left. I’ll go and look for the other two. Maybe Emily can catch up with me.” Morgan nodded his thanks and walked away with the boy.

JJ already had Garcia’s number, but not Spencer’s, so she called Garcia, thinking that she would be the easier option. It picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, Penelope. Where are you?”

“At home, sick as a parrot.”

“You certainly remind me of a parrot.”

“I think that I spent too much time outside for one day. I don’t normally go out in sunlight, not all that often, anyway.”

“You can’t be too sick, you’re still talking my ear off. Anyway, I’d better go. Got to find Spencer now.”

“Is he not there either?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m looking. Bye, Penelope.”

“See you soon, JJ!’ Garcia chirped. JJ chuckled as she placed the phone in her pocket. The next problem, and the far more difficult one, was to find Spencer. However, Lady Luck seemed to be on her side. Emily walked out of a classroom opposite her.

“Emily!” Emily grinned back. “Where’s Spencer?”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Because I was expecting us to all hang out, but Morgan left, you were in detention, Penelope’s sick, and Spencer’s gone MIA.”

“I doubt that he’s gone MIA. He just doesn’t agree with the cafeteria. Do you know how much shit he’d get?”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense,” she pondered, recalling the violent incident. “Well, take me to him.”

“Excuse me? Again, I ask, why?”

JJ had had enough. “Oh my god, Emily, stop! I’m tired of this absolute fucking bullshit! I hang out with you guys because I like you. There’s no personal gain to it, I’m not going to up and leave, and, in fact, you guys are technically the ones who did it to Morgan and I. Not the other way around.”

Emily seemed abashed, which was suitable, in JJ’s opinion. “I… I didn’t mean to insinuate that, JJ. It has been on the back of my mind, and yes, I have been worried that you’ll hurt Spencer and Penelope. But he’s a fairly introverted person, so is he going to want to talk? You saw him on Saturday. He left, not because of his mother, but because he didn’t want to get too attached, just for us to up and leave.”

“Em, there’s only one way to find out.”

“He hangs out in front on the grass. Less bullies there. Come on, let’s go.” JJ breathed a sigh of relief. After hearing Emily’s take on Spencer’s swift departure, she thought that she wasn’t going to be allowed to see him. Emily certainly didn’t seem happy about it. But what JJ said must have struck home as well, because Emily’s admission indicated to JJ that they were maybe reaching a better level of trust for one another.

But he wasn’t there.

“Do you know where else he could have gone?”

“JJ, maybe this is him telling us that he doesn’t want to be around us. Hiding from everyone.”

“Well, then, if what you’re saying is right, we need to convince him that we won’t just drop him at the slightest hitch.”

Emily admitted this was true, at least, but still felt a little uncomfortable looking for him after this. “I don’t know where else he could have gone. Maybe the classrooms?”

They ran through classroom after classroom, asked the teacher, but none of them had seen him that day. JJ ran her fingers through her hair, as Emily paced. Em was now quite on board with JJ’s concern, and had been vehement in deciding to continue after they stopped for a break.

“I can’t think of anywhere else.”

“He’s not in the cafeteria, in the classrooms, where he normally is… The only other place is the field.”

“I don’t know, I’m starting to think he left school just to avoid us. I don’t know that we are going to find him today.”

But they found him. And the way they found him was not pretty.

*     *     *     *

Spencer was crying.

He didn’t quite know how it had happened. He didn’t know why nobody stopped to help him. He also didn’t know how he had found himself on their radars. But he was, and he had to deal with it.

He knew that Hankel would be back for revenge, but never thought he’d stoop this low. He’d always seemed the type for more physical violence, rather than the psychological torture Spencer was experiencing now.

Never in a million years did he think something like this was going to happen to him. Beat up? Yes. Verbally abused? Obviously. But strung up like Jesus? That was too far, and he was, plain and simple, embarrassed.

Embarrassed that he couldn’t fight back, embarrassed that he’d skipped two grades, embarrassed about every aspect of his life.

But the thing that embarrassed him the most was the fact that _they_ found him like this.

It was a bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww... Poor Spencer! I tossed and turned over whether to include this, whether it was too dark for a more light fic, and whether I could bear to hurt Spencer like this, but, as you can see, I went with it. I hope you approve my decision.
> 
> Now... similarly to chapter 5, there is a spoiler below. Once again, skip if you don't want it, but it relates to the previous spoiler I gave.
> 
> SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
> 
> So, who is Reid going to be with in the end? Emily... or JJ? And the winner is... JJ!!! Like the last spoiler, I'm going to explain myself, because I always feel like I need to justify myself, even when it isn't needed.
> 
> 1\. I don't know enough about Emily yet. Not enough experience with her to create a natural progression where she could naturally end up with Spencer.
> 
> 2\. The only vote I got on the subject was for JJ. Highfunctioningwhovian, I know you said you didn't really care, but saying that was always going to influence my decision, so thanks! I appreciate it.
> 
> 3\. They are 100% my OTP. I tried not to be biased, but realistically, I don't know that I would have been able to resist pairing them.
> 
> So, yeah. That's it. Somewhat counter-intuitively, this means JJ is actually going to end up with Will longer than originally planned. You'll see the reason for this in my profile if you look for my favourite plot-line... and I may have to bring in Lila Archer just for a bit of equality on the subject.
> 
> SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END 
> 
> Ciao for now! Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 days... isn't too bad. I am glad to have gotten this chapter finished quicker than I thought I was going to. Plus, after my sudden burst of inspiration last night, I was scared I wasn't going to have inspiration for this story. Never fear, clearly I am still good.
> 
> People keep complimenting, and my ego keeps inflating! Thanks to the outstanding Jemmacat12 for her(?) comments, bookmark, and kudos, and I hope I answered your question well! Thanks again to the fantastic ShadowsAtNight for commenting once more. Blue, you will always be appreciated and I'm so glad that you decided to give my fic a go. And thanks to highfunctioningwhovian again! I appreciate the sentiment about infinite kudos, and I reciprocate any love given to me by you!
> 
> P.S. In case I don't write another part to Prostitutes and Promises, I'll do my shout-outs for that fic on here as well. It's doubtful they'll see this, but whatever. Thanks to guest commenters Dee and jp for assuring me that my late-night endeavours are perfectly okay, and thanks to eliving123 for being the only signed-in user to give kudos! Much appreciated!

“No. Stop!”

JJ recoiled, and took her hands off Spencer. “I’m just getting you down.”

“No. Not yet. Can…” he swallowed. “Can I have some clothes? Do you know where to find some?”

“I’ll go, JJ. You stay here with him.” JJ nodded to Emily, who ran off quickly. Turning back to Spencer, she sighed.

“Spencer, what happened?”

“Well, you see, there was a flying pig—” Spencer stopped himself. He knew what had caused this sudden burst of angry sarcasm, but JJ didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of it, all the same. “I got ambushed.”

JJ didn’t look surprised at this, and she took his harsh comment in her stride. “By who?”

“Does it really matter?”

“It will, but I guess it doesn’t right now.” She glanced away. “Spencer, you can just get down, I won’t look.”

“I know you won’t. But still… I don’t want to have sent off Emily for no reason.” JJ knew there was more to it, but reasoned that this was not the time to ask.

“Well, I’ll stay here and watch you then.”

“I don’t think that I’m going anywhere.”

JJ snorted, involuntarily, causing a crack of a smile to appear on Spencer’s face. “If you’re so insistent on staying up there, then I won’t watch you. I’ll be your bodyguard.”

“You will definitely have to answer questions about why you stayed with me, a scrawny kid, who was naked and tied to a pole.”

JJ stared at Spencer in disbelief. He looked at her confused for a second, then realised the implications of his statement, and blushed bright red.

“Spencer, I would’ve expected that from Morgan, but not from you.” Spencer’s blush didn’t dissipate, and JJ decided to let him off the hook. “Anyway, I don’t care. They were already asking about the café meeting.”

“I knew that was a bad idea.”

“You were avoiding us.”

Spencer gulped. “Yeah. I was.”

“Why? We’re here for you,” she said, and Spencer got the idea that she was talking about the present situation specifically, not the general idea, and it made him appreciate that statement a little more.

“Being seen with me is sure to lead to things like this happening to you. Admittedly, it doesn’t usually get this bad—”

“Then why did it get this bad, Spencer?”

“Best guess? Because they saw me with you at the café. I shouldn’t be hanging out with you, or I don’t deserve it, or whatever.”

This threw JJ off. She already had a comment prepared about how Reid needed to be more selfish, to consider his own happiness. But apparently, he was considering both sides. And it would be difficult to deter his logical solution. “We can fix the problem.”

“You don’t need that hassle.”

_I stand corrected, he is being too selfless_. “Yeah, we do.”

Emily decided to have the worst timing ever, or possibly the best, from Spencer’s perspective. “I’m back. Here,” she said, making a move to offer him the clothes before realising he couldn’t move his arms.

“Yeah, please do something about this first, Emily.” Emily moved and loosened the ropes, enough that he could grab the clothes. “Turn around.” The girls complied.

Spencer worked his arms out of the ropes and put his legs through the pant holes. There was a more specific reason as to why he didn’t want them to see his full body, but they didn’t need to know about _that_.

“Can we turn yet, Reid?” Emily asked.

“No! Not-not yet.” _Tuck into waistband… Done!_

“Okay, we’re good.”

“Is there someone else there we don’t know about?” Emily asked, grinning. She thought she had a firm grasp of Spencer’s problem.

“Yep. His name is Fred. He’s my imaginary friend.”

The girls turned around and smiled at Spencer, thinking that he was feeling better now, but he refused to look anywhere but the ground, and now that they were facing him, he didn’t acknowledge them.

“Come on, Spencer. Let’s get you home.” He nodded his head, and walked next to the girls, his head hung with shame. A whole host of thoughts ran through his head. A week ago, he wouldn’t have even contemplated speaking to these people, and he doubted they would’ve done anything. But now the friendship he would’ve given anything for before was coming at a cost he wasn’t sure he wanted to endure.

Emily, for her part, was almost thinking the exact same thing, except from her position. If he kept talking to them, if they continued to be friends with one another, would they come after the second weakest target next? Namely, her? Once again, was this friendship worth it. Normally she would’ve kept up the friendship with no qualms about it whatsoever. But if she was going to be here a while, was it worth enduring the problems for a more extended length of time?

Lost in their own thoughts, the three didn’t even notice they had reached the outskirts of the school grounds until Morgan called out to them. “JJ! Emily! Spencer!”

The three turned after each of them heard their named called, and relaxed slightly when they saw the friendly face.

“Where did you go?”

“We went looking for Spencer.” Emily spoke before JJ could stop her.

“Where were you, Reid?”

“Somewhere. I’d rather not talk about it right now. I just want to go home.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated whether to leave the topic alone or not. He decided to, which they were grateful for, and instead asked to come along.

They were never going to say no.

The four of them set off, all ready.

*     *     *     *

Spencer was lagging behind.

Emily slowed down to fall in step with him.

“Is there a particular reason that you don’t want to tell Morgan what happened to you?”

“Yes.”

Emily waited for elaboration but received none. “Which is…”

“He makes everything into a joke!” Spencer clapped a hand over his mouth quickly, but Morgan didn’t seem to have noticed the outburst. “I can’t trust him to take this seriously, and I don’t know whether he even would think it that dangerous.”

Emily nodded her head, understanding where he was coming from. But she felt like he was being a little bit unfair to Morgan. “That’s not fair to him, and you know that.”

“Yeah, I know, but can you just… give me time?”

“Whatever you need, Spencer.”

_What I really need is to never talk to any of you again_ , he thought, but kept his mouth shut for once.

“So, why is he going home?” Derek asked JJ, who grimaced in return.

“Look, if he didn’t want to tell you, respect that. I’m not going to let him down like that.”

“I know. But I’m worried…” he trailed off, and JJ stared. This was not like him at all. “Then what the idiots were saying was real.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We never talked about what happened when I left. I came back after five minutes, but you were already gone.”

“We were gone?”

“Well, yeah, you said you went looking for Spencer.”

“Right.”

“I came back because of what they said they were going to do. I’m pretty sure they were joking, but still, I left, because it was awful.”

“What did they say was going to happen?” JJ asked, fearing the worst.”

“They said that I shouldn’t worry about ‘the nerd’, how they knew I was too nice to tell him to fuck off, and how they’d make sure that he didn’t go anywhere near me again. They said they were fixing the problem.”

“That’s not an answer to the question, Morgan. What did they say they were going to do?”

“It actually happened, didn’t it?”

“If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, then yes. It did happen.”

Morgan turned around, without saying another word, and pulled Spencer into a hug. Spencer was never one for extreme physical contact, but he had to admit that it was kind of soothing. Nobody had ever done this for him before. He felt the hand of the older boy pat him a few times.

But then he wondered.

“Do you know what happened? Did JJ tell you?” he said, while giving a little glance to JJ. She expected to see fire, but she could only see sadness.

“No! She didn’t, she refused to. But they told me what they were going to do. Or were doing, because apparently it was happening at the same time.”

“You-You knew?” Spencer voice cracked, and at the same time, all three of their hearts broke.

“Spencer, I didn’t, I swear! I didn’t have a clue what they were doing until after the fact, and even then, I thought they were kidding.”

“S-So, I was right?”

“Right about what, Reid?”

“They did this because I shouldn’t be hanging around you guys. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your friendship.”

“Spencer, you deserve our friendships. Garcia’s, too, although she conveniently decided to not be here today.” A tear was rolling down Spencer’s cheek, but a ghost of a smile appeared through his lips. Emily continued. “You shouldn’t have to wonder about hanging around us, because you’re actually worth being around.”

“But is that friendship worth the shit that I have to go through, or that you will inevitably have to go through?”

“Yes.” Even though she had been questioning this herself not ten minutes earlier, she answered with zero hesitation. Because she had reached a conclusion. “If this is the sort of thing you have to go through on a daily basis, you need friends. People who are willing to help you. Comfort you.”

“Could you help me fix the problem?” Spencer took her hesitation as an answer. “Didn’t think so.”

“Of course, we could.” Morgan continued where Emily had failed. “I imagine that Garcia will be the biggest help… do you want their photoshopped images to have three or four nipples?”

Spencer didn’t want Morgan turning this into a joke. Not originally, at least, but if laughter really was the best medicine, then Morgan was proving himself to be the best doctor on the planet. He chuckled, and it set off a chain reaction. Suddenly, the sombre mood was gone, replaced instead by the guffawing of four teenagers.

“I think three sounds more fun.”

“But, Spencer, it’s obviously ‘the more the merrier.’”

“Oh, well, if you insist… And don’t forget the absence of a belly button!”

“Whatever we come up with, it will be nothing compared to the malicious creative juices of Penelope Garcia.” Emily injected.

“We can give her starting ideas, so that she can build on them and create whatever the hell she wants.”

“Okay, well, if you’re all so insistent on helping, what can you do, Morgan? What’s your contribution to my cause?”

“Uh… I can teach self-defence! Yeah, boom, there’s mine! What about you, girls?”

“Oh no, we’re completely useless, unfortunately. We can act as moral support, but that’s about it.”

“I’m sure you can teach him _other_ things!”

A silent moment.

“And there’s the Morgan we know and love. He’s back, ladies and gentlemen!” JJ giggled, and the other three joined in quickly.

“Normality ensues.”

“Okay, okay, moral support it is.” He seemed to sober, and drew himself in close to the other three. “Wait, I have to ask. Are you actually serious?”

“Serious about what?” Spencer asked.

“Serious about self-defence, Pretty Boy!”

“Are you?”

“Sure I am! But hey, no offense, but it doesn’t seem like your sort of thing.”

“None taken. It isn’t really. I’m not a fighter.”

“Yes, that’s right, you’re a lover, not a fighter.” Morgan smirked at him. “Doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. Although it’s pretty clear that you’ll never be as good as me.”

“Cocky much?”

“This isn’t cockiness, it’s confidence and trust in my own abilities.”

“Or it is quite possibly narcissism.” Morgan shrugged with a non-committal grunt. “Whatever the cause is, I’ll do it.”

“That’s surprising.”

“Meh, fuck it. Why not?”

“That’s the opinion you need to have on all of life, Spencer.”

The girls had been watching the exchange like it was a tennis match for some time now. “If they hadn’t only known each other for five days, you’d swear they were related,” Emily whispered.

“Shhh. You’re going to ruin the moment.”

The boys turned to face them. “What moment?”

“Your bromance thing you’ve currently got going on. It’s cute.”

“We make the perfect couple, thank you,” Morgan huffed to JJ.

Spencer squinted in confusion, and Emily took pity. “More teasing, Spencer.”

“Is that literally all that you guys do?”

“It seems so. It’s a pretty solid foundation for a trusting friendship, to be fair. If you can tease and be teased, you’re comfortable with the people around you.”

“I think I’ve been on the receiving end more than the giving end.”

“Practice, Spencer. Plus, you’re the only one of us that currently has a nickname.”

“Fair point.” Spencer made a note in his head.

He was going to thank the next football player that he saw. Because, despite what had happened to him, and how much he was still hurting inside over it, it helped him reach a conclusion. He could trust these people. They were good to be around, they liked him, and they’d almost completely taken his mind off what he’d just been through.

And they trusted him. That was important, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I play it off too easy?? Let me know. I'm scared I made it seem like it wasn't a big deal, when it clearly was, but I feel like that would be how the other three would comfort him, by distracting him and making him feel better that way, but I wonder if I made it too easy.
> 
> I haven't said this yet, but if you've actually read up to here, thank you a million. That's like 20 000 words of my writing, which is far from professional, so I just want to thank everyone who has been reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so guilty! But I have been SO bogged down with assignments. Unfortunately, I am not Penelope, and ICT is actually a challenge for me. Hopefully I get through it, because it is a piece of shit assignment, basically. As a warning, this chapter is not chock-full of content. Bit of a filler chapter, so we can get to the good stuff. Hopefully there's a bit of humor in there too.
> 
> Shout-out time!! highfunctioningwhovian, you absolute legend, if you can continue being such a great supporter, will make my Hall of Fame (I don't currently have a Hall of Fame, but if I did you and ShadowsatNight would defo be in it). Jemmacatt12, lovely lady (yes! correct pronoun), has been so supportive and I shower you with love! SinFromHeaven, a new reader, and hopefully an interested one! You rock my friend, and please continue reading!

“How are you lovely ladies doing this morning? And you too, Reid.”

“Boy, I can hear the warm welcome from you. Thanks, Morgan.”

“We’re doing good. Thanks for asking!” Emily emphasised that last bit, hinting to Morgan that Spencer really did seem to be okay. It wouldn’t be surprising if he wasn’t, after everything he had been through. “How’s your morning been?”

“Rushed. I’ve been awake for about an hour and a half, which is not enough relaxation time before school.”

“How much time do you normally get?”

“Three hours, give or take.”

“You wake up at five?” JJ asked. “Christ. That is a little too early. And by a little I mean a very large amount of ‘too early’.”

“Not a morning person, JJ?”

“I’m not a morning person. Or a night person, really. I’m just permanently exhausted. But yes, the snooze button is my best friend.”

“Why do you wake up at five? What could you possibly have to do before school that takes up three hours of your time?” Garcia questioned.

“Work out.”

“I can imagine.”

“Complete homework that I didn’t complete the night before.”

“Less attractive.” Morgan winced at the comment. “There are so many more things that you could be doing instead. Like… sleeping.”

“But it’s the things that we do while we’re awake that matter the most.” Spencer quipped. They looked at him. “What?”

“Sorry, we just didn’t realise that your body had been invaded by the ghost of a Buddhist monk,” JJ smirked.

“Hey! I wasn’t!” Emily rolled her eyes and started to explain to Spencer again, but he continued. “I was invaded by the ghost of a Greek philosopher. Get your facts right.”

“I do apologise…”

“Socrates.”

“Socrates.” JJ shook her head, both in mild amusement and in exasperation. “I do not have the ability to see through the body of this lanky fifteen-year-old boy.”

“Why would you want to see _through_ the body?” Garcia interrupted again. “Just look _at_ the body. That’ll definitely do.”

Spencer blushed slightly. The others groaned, nearly masking the sound of the bell ringing in their ears. While they walked, Spencer made his way quickly over to Emily. “See what happens when I try and join in?”

“What? You get called attractive by Penelope, which, admittedly, is not difficult to do, and you messed around with JJ. What’s the problem there?” Spencer shrugged. “You’re still up for today, right? I still would like your tutoring.”

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Emily raised her eyebrows. “You know what I’m talking about.” When Spencer said nothing, she continued. “It’s completely okay to be upset about what happened on Monday.”

“I know it is. But I’m fine. Really.”

Emily didn’t believe him for a second, but she let up, turning away a second too soon, and missing him squirm. “Hey, Morgan, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Why is it that you wake up so early? Seriously.”

Morgan paused, and Emily felt like she could see the internal battle raging inside his head. “My parents make me.”

“Your parents make you? I thought my parents were bad.”

“Yeah, you have no idea.” Morgan let out a dark chuckle. “How’s he doing?”

“He won’t let me in.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. But what did he actually say to you?”

“That he was ‘okay. Seriously, Emily, I’m fine,’ or something along those lines.”

“Have you considered taking him at face value? Maybe he really is fine. I can’t say that I completely understand what happened to him, but I can at least understand that people might process things differently. Maybe he’s actually okay? He might not be in a week’s time. But he’s fine now.”

“I’m not sure that he’ll come around to me.”

“Would you?” Emily opened her mouth, but realised that she wasn’t sure. “I wouldn’t. I’m not surprised that he wouldn’t, either.”

“So, then, what do you suggest, oh wise Derek?” Emily was a little frustrated, and spoke sarcastically, as she tended to do.

“I don’t know.”

That was the end of that. Emily left that conversation feeling even more confused than before.

Penelope had been chatting with JJ and Spencer. Or, rather, chatting _at_ the rather amused looking pair. JJ had grown used her chattering away by now, but Spencer was still struggling a little.

“… you have no idea what I went through these last two days, guys, honestly! Sick as a dog.” JJ and Spencer shared a glance with one another and grinned. “Although, it did give me more time to work on my pictures.”

“Your pictures? What pictures?”

“I am a tech goddess, JJ. What sort of pictures do you think?”

“I knew you meant photoshop. I was wondering what sort of photoshop.”

“I’ll show you. Spencer, turn away. Your eyes are too young and pure for this.”

“You’ve gotten a naked picture of… some celebrity, I don’t know. I don’t really care.”

It was a celebrity. It was a female celebrity. JJ raised her eyebrows.

“What?” Garcia asked.

“Really?”

“Okay, firstly, if you allow me to do it with men, I should be allowed to do it with women, too. Second, I don’t make these for sexual gratification. I make these for practise and enjoyment.”

JJ turned to Spencer. “Are you getting this?”

“I didn’t see the picture, but I don’t think it’s a conversation that needs much context. Sounds interesting, Garcia.”

“I’ve already texted you the picture.” Spencer felt his phone buzz, and blushed. “Enjoy,” she winked, making JJ smirk.

“So, what are our plans for today? I, unfortunately, am not going to make it to… whatever social gathering we are going to have. I have other plans.”

“Oh. Where are you going?” Spencer asked, sounding a little disappointed.

“I didn’t see Will at all yesterday. I’m going to spend time with him.” That was a blatant lie. Her next counsellor meeting was scheduled for break.

“That’s a shame. Well, have fun.”

“Yes, that’s the plan.” _Because counselling is an absolute riot._

“What about you, Garcia? If you haven’t got plans, I’m sure that Emily won’t mind you sitting in. As long as you’re not too distracting.”

“I appreciate the offer, and I will be taking you up on that, if Emily will allow me.”

“Allow you to what?”

“Interrupt your tutoring.” Emily furrowed her brow. “Okay, fine, no interrupting, just observing. And commenting. And general shenanigans after you’ve finished.”

“Fine, if you must.”

*     *     *     *

“How long is this going to take?”

“I knew this was a mistake.”

As predicted, Garcia had the attention span of a goldfish, and was thoroughly irritating Emily, who was trying her best to understand the material being presented to her. However, when Garcia made constant comments about attractiveness of passing students and/or the boredom she was enduring, it was difficult for her.

“Why did you even come along, anyway?”

“I had nothing better to do. JJ and Derek were off with their fancy friends, who I have no desire to hang out with.”

“You couldn’t have gone and annoyed them instead?”

“No, annoying you is much more fun.”

“Look, just because the two of you instantly understand everything doesn’t mean I do, and I would love to actually be able to pass this class.”

“You’re doing fine, Emily. Penelope, shut up.” Garcia was suitably mollified, as this was the first time that Spencer had spoken up during her running commentary. She laid down on the grass instead, using her bag as a pillow, and pulled out her phone. Emily and Spencer breathed a sigh of relief.

Ten minutes later, she felt a flick on her arm. “We’re done.”

“ _Finally_.” After seeing the glare from Emily, she continued. “Sorry. How was it?”

“Complicated, but I think I’ve got this.”

“Well, we have… twelve minutes left,” she said, checking the clock. “What shall we do in that time?”

“Talk about nothing and everything at the same time? It’s what we normally do, anyway. And I have to say that you are absolutely spectacular at talking about everything and nothing at the exact same time.”

“It’s an inherited skill. Now, let me get this underway, by phrasing a question towards you, Spencer. Do you think JJ’s attractive?”

Spencer choked on air, and Emily snorted. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Don’t try stalling. Answer the question.”

Spencer blew out a stream of air, while Emily silently cackled next to him. She hadn’t anticipated this from Garcia, but trust _her_ to immediately pair any random two people together. It sounded fitting for her. “Sorry, Spencer, you’re on your own here.” He looked a little betrayed, which made Emily laugh harder.

“No?”

“That is very similar to your soccer game ‘no’ and is also the worst possible response to this question, Spencer. Brace yourself for Penelope.” Emily almost winced.

“Ha! Hilarious. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“That’s not fair. You don’t see me asking you whether you find Morgan attractive.”

“That is because I am completely open about how good-looking he is. Although you’re pretty good yourself. On the other hand…”

“And why did you ask about JJ?”

“Uh, because the only other girls that you know are sitting right here, and even I’m not cruel enough to ask that with us here.”

“But you’re cruel enough to go probing for information that you will inevitably relay on to the subject.”

Emily was almost proud of the man for his ability to dodge the question, except for one fatal error. He forgot to speak in the hypothetical.

“That, right there, is an admission of guilt.”

“Alright! Yes, she is objectively attractive.” _Smooth recovery, Spencer. Well played._ Emily felt like she was watching a spectator sport. Spencer had been the underdog in this game, but he put up a surprising fight.

However, Garcia was definitely the undefeated, undisputed champion, and inevitably, Spencer would crumble. Emily decided to head for some interference. “Exactly, what’s the problem with that? She is definitely that, I will admit.”

“Why did you do that, Emily?”

“Do what?”

“Cover for him.”

“Mercy. Now, moving on, can we discuss this class?”

“Don’t look at me, sweetie, I don’t have a clue. I don’t take that class. Far too much effort and not enough reward.”

“Yeah, but you’re smart. Why the hell can I not comprehend the material? This is definitely the junior material, right? Or am I just dumb?”

“You can’t comprehend the material due to a lower brain function.”

“Than… Hang on a second! Spencer, is this how you repay me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, consider mercy ove—” Morgan interrupted her sentence.

“What sort of mercy are you talking about, and can I participate?”

“You can do whatever you want, honey.” Garcia’s voice oozed.

“I don’t think I’ll need mercy with you. Do whatever you want.”

“Damn it, Morgan. Terrible timing!” Emily smiled.

“I don’t know what terrible timing you’re talking about. Is it the terrible timing of the bell that will ring in 3… 2… 1… ½… ¼…” A bell sounded overheard. “Aha! Perfect, as always!”

They packed up their things, Emily and Garcia grumbling, but Spencer looking relieved. The girls walked away, but as Spencer made to follow them, Morgan grabbed his arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“You owe me. I just bailed your ass out of that situation, but those girls, especially Garcia, are like sharks. They have smelled your blood Reid. You showed weakness! So, for your own safety, get over this crush!”

_Do I even bother denying it, at this point? Probably not._ “I’m a teenage boy. Do you know how many hormones are running riot throughout my body? I’ll be over it in like a week. It’ll be fine.”

“Sure, it will. On a different note, how are you doing? Everyone’s worried.”

“Everyone?” Spencer nodded over to Garcia.

Morgan groaned. “You know what I meant. If she knew, she’d be more than worried. Just… you can talk to us.”

Spencer nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that sucked, kinda? I don't know how I feel about it, hopefully you still enjoyed it. I just felt like I had to publish something! :D I'm enjoying writing the banter, it is definitely my kind of humour! I wonder if I wrote the attraction thing right, I feel like I couldn't have written it fantastically, no matter what I did, so hopefully that was adequate.
> 
> More SPOILERS, by the way, although I don't think many of you care at this point. With the plot-line thing (it was jealousy, btw. I love jealousy plot-lines) there's two ways to go about it. And one of my favourite parts of writing about Spencer's jealousy and JJ's (future, potentially) jealousy is that I can explore both sides of the coin.
> 
> Spencer's side: he lets it fester. Lets his emotions sit, hopes they'll go away, is annoyed when they don't. He's unlikely to do anything about it, although he'll be a little too happy when the split occurs (if you know what I mean).
> 
> JJ's side: she takes the bull by the horns. She seems more extroverted and emotionally connected. She doesn't let it fester (which is good), but instead acts out, speaking with spite and hatred towards the subject of her jealousy (which is BAD).
> 
> Honestly, you may be tired of reading about my obsession with this side of the story. I promise, I won't get too invested in that side, although I admit I'm in too deep already. I will always consider this a gen fic though, I promise.
> 
> See you next time! xx


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Where to start? You guys might have thought I abandoned this story. I haven't. I'll try to never do that. But schoolwork continued to pile up, and some things happened in my personal life that I'm still trying to deal with, and I've been dealing with writer's block, and all of this has epitomised in a month long wait. But, never fear, because I am back and better than ever! (I hope.)
> 
> Because it's been so long, I'm not sure who's commented or given kudos since last time. So forgive me if I miss you.
> 
> Kudos given by anxietyisabitch, roseoftranquility, and Turix are much appreciated and reciprocated! And, if these two hadn't commented, then everyone would be wondering what happened to them, so thanks, once more, to ShadowsAtNight and highfunctioningwhovian, for having amazing personalities and creative nicknames. And, finally, thanks to new reader pallyndrome for their comments and bookmark. My response to your question? If you're lucky, maybe in a future sequel. But not in this story (really sorry).
> 
> So, without further ado, Chapter 10 is here! The first of hopefully many milestones!

“Sweetie, you’re going to have the house to yourself again this weekend, okay?”

“Where are you going this time?”

“Don’t be like that. I have to meet with some ambassadors about… well, it’s something important, okay?”

“I’m sure it is, Mum.” _More important than spending a weekend with your own daughter?_ She wasn’t sure.

“I’ll be back on Monday.” Emily raised her cheek for her mother to kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” The words sounded hollow to her ears. “See you soon.”

If soon meant in three days, that is.

* * *

 

“Yes, Morgan. Eat it! Chug!”

_What on earth did I walk into?_ Emily asked herself.

“He’s eating two dry wheat biscuits.” Spencer provided the context, even as he watched on in pain for his friend.

“And we’re considering this entertainment?”

“Apparently.” Emily started to smile, as she had to admit that it was quite humourous. She felt a little better about her mother’s disappearance earlier that morning, watching the antics of the taller boy as he finally choked it down.

“Water. Please. Just… water.”

JJ duly provided the hydration. Morgan drank half the bottle, then poured some of the rest over himself and JJ.

“That water was cold! You just wasted it!”

“It wasn’t wasted! I was thirsty!”

“It’s not like you ran anywhere, you didn’t need to pour it over yourself.”

“Yeah, but… it was funny.” He smirked mischievously, and squirted JJ again. She didn’t even bother attempting to dodge the blast this time, just shaking her head.

“My desire was not to give everyone here a show.”

She turned away, which gave Morgan the opportunity for a quick look at Spencer. He was looking on, clearly perplexed, yet still amused. He was still concerned about all the things that the younger boy had been through recently, and had resolved to keep a closer eye on him. But he seemed okay.

“I’m sure Will will like it.” He shook his head. “Did that sentence sound weird to anyone else?” Four vigorous nods came his way. “So, what’s on for today?”

“I’ve got mat—”

“I don’t care about your subjects, Reid. I meant, where are we going?”

“Yeah, we’re probably going to need a little bit of coordination. We just seem to keep missing each other.”

“I always just sit on the grass.” Spencer put in. He wanted to be able to provide a working solution. He wanted to feel like he belonged.

“On the grass it is then.”

Of course, things never go quite so smoothly.

Penelope left her class, clearly quite excited to go and sit down with the others. Just then, a teacher walked up to her.

“Can I talk to you, Penelope?”

“Sure, miss.”

“Your actions in class have caught my eye.”

This woman was her ICT teacher. Based on what she was talking about, this could either be very good for Penelope, or very, _very_ bad.

“Your work is, quite possibly, the best that I have ever seen at this school.”

Penelope breathed a sigh of relief, and beamed.

“I need proof that it is actually your work. Sorry, Penelope, but the school’s making me do it. You just need to come in with me for half an hour.”

“But, Miss, I…”

“Penelope, the school wants to fail you for plagiarism. I know you didn’t do that, but we need to provide them with proof.”

“Okay, Miss.”

“Follow me.”

_Well, so much for sitting outside._ Garcia walked morosely, following the teacher to an empty classroom, filled with computers.

“You just need to provide me with a step-by-step instruction to what you did. Otherwise the school is going to keep questioning you.”

“Alright. I’ll show you.”

After she had finished displaying her assignment, she checked the clock outside the room. She’d lost the entire lunch. _Damn it._

Spencer was in a very similar boat to Penelope. This time, he was approached by Hotchner.

“Spencer, can you stay back, please?” Spencer stayed in his seat, confused.

“The school are concerned about your learning. Or rather, how good you are doing in class. Principal is asking questions. Apparently, he doesn’t believe that you could be as smart as you are. You must be cheating.”

“Sir, that is absolutely ridiculous. Why would I ever cheat? How on earth would I have cheated?”

“Yes, I know, Spencer. I believe you. But it isn’t me you need to convince. You have an appointment with him.”

Spencer thanked him on his way out.

On his walk to the office he contemplated what the big man could possibly want with him. But he also wondered why the world seemingly didn’t want him to meet with every single one of friends at once. Something was always coming up, preventing them from spending time together. Spencer was slightly sick of it.

Like Penelope, he was told to sit a test in front of the principal. However, unlike Penelope, the headmaster was very much combative with him.

“Spencer, you can’t have completed these tests correctly. You simply can’t have. It’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible, sir. I promise, no cheating of any kind.”

“Yes, well. Since I’m not allowed to have your marks taken away for no reason, you have to sit this test. It will take an hour and a half. With no preparation, it’s going to be impossible for you to cheat this one.”

Spencer smirked internally.

Forty minutes later, the Principal was staring at his sheet in amazement. “Okay. Everything right. I stand corrected. Spencer, you can go.”

Spencer nodded graciously, but he was fuming on the inside. _Another lunch lost._

Emily was in quite the opposite situation. She was kept behind by a teacher, not because they thought she was good, but because the teacher thought she was misbehaving. The same teacher who kept her in before. Emily wasn’t sure why this woman seemed to have it in for her, but it angered her.

“Emily, I don’t know what your problem is. All your other schools have said that you were a good student, kept quiet. So, I don’t quite know why you’re so disruptive in my class.”

“It’s not me, Miss. It’s those girls next to me.”

“They wouldn’t have been so loud. They wouldn’t have done anything like that.” Emily’s eyes narrowed. “You, on the other hand, have been nothing but rude. Do you have an explanation?”

“You’re hallucinating? Honestly, I don’t know, but I’m not sure why you seem to hate me. Does picking on me give you a greater sense of power?”

That comment alone got Emily the full detention with promises of two more in the future. Emily wisely kept her mouth shut after that. It wasn’t like she had any chance of helping her situation. She was just annoyed that this woman had stopped her from getting to her new friends once again.

She hoped they would understand.

Fate, unfortunately, did not fall JJ’s way. She was the only one of the five that made it to where they said they would be. Normally this would be a good thing, but JJ had blown off Will so that she could be with them.

_“Look, just for today, okay? I haven’t gotten to spend heaps of time with them recently, so please just let me go with them.”_

_“I just feel like I’m being replaced by them, cher. You haven’t been spending time with me either.”_

_“And I will soon, I promise. Just not today. Love you, and I’ll talk to you later.”_

Unfortunately, that had proved to be the wrong decision, and now she was faced with the fact that she wasn’t spending time with the person/people she wanted to. _Why does the world hate me?_

Okay, maybe she was being needlessly melodramatic. Still, she was definitely having bad luck. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever. The point was that she didn’t like to be alone, with nobody to talk to, because she was an extremely outgoing person, and sitting alone in the grass was making her bored out of her mind.

However, with two lunch periods, the four were able to meet up once again, and Emily, Spencer, and Penelope quickly explained their absences.

JJ, once again, questioned why the world seemed to hate her. It didn’t respond, unfortunately.

They were having fun being around each other. But there was one noticeable absence from their group: Morgan. None of them knew where he had disappeared to. And they all wanted to know.

Fortunately, they were about to find out. But the reason he had disappeared was not a fortunate one. Not at all.

JJ’s phone buzzed. _Maybe this is Derek._ Sure enough, his name appeared.

_Can you guys get out of school for a bit?_

**Why?**

_I’ll tell you once you get here._

**And where’s here, exactly?**

_Back of the school._

**I’m assuming outside the premises?**

_5 points to JJ._

**Why there?**

_Read my second message, and you’ll have your answer._

JJ was unsure why he was being so cryptic, unless he thought that they might not come for him, and was trying to coax them out. It frustrated her to think that she didn’t have a clue how to gain their trust, and that they didn’t seem to understand how to let her in. Although, maybe the fact that he texted her instead of the others said something. What that meant for the others, though, she was uncertain.

Of course, they left without much of a second thought.

Derek was waiting out the back of the school. His butt was on the floor, his back was against the wall, and his head was in his hands. _This can’t be good,_ JJ thought.

“Derek? We’re here.”

“You came here?”

“Of course we did.” Spencer sounded a little confused at that.

“Sorry, it’s just… I’m, uh…”

“Slow down. Breathe. Start at the beginning.”

“Always a good place to start, the beginning.” JJ could hear the start of a smirk, and it satisfied her, knowing that whatever had happened to her friend, the old wit that he’d had previously was still there.

Penelope sat down next to him, as a source of comfort.

“There’s not that much to tell. It’s just, uh, hard to get out, is all.” Morgan paused for a few seconds, and, understanding that he would speak soon, everybody else stayed silent as well.

“I got suspended.”

That was… honestly, about as bad as JJ was expecting. From the looks of the others, they were surprised for the same reason as her. They knew something had happened. They just didn’t think that Morgan would’ve gotten himself suspended.

“What happened, Derek?” He appreciated that they asked what happened, rather than what he did, as his ‘parents’ would do.

“I… I can’t say.”

“Why not?”

Derek seemed to be looking for a way to phrase what he needed to say, and the girls waited patiently. But Spencer didn’t wait. Spencer spoke, because he knew the words that Derek was trying not to let out.

“I know why you can’t tell us. Or, rather, why you can’t tell Penelope. Am I right?” Derek nodded. “Penelope, some guys stripped me and tied me to a goalpost. JJ and Emily rescued me.” His matter-of-fact tone could have fooled a few people, but the people around him could tell that it still hurt deeply. “Now you can speak, Morgan.”

“I heard one of them talking about it. I punched him. There. Story over.”

Penelope sat in shock, and a little bit of hurt, that she didn’t know this beforehand. Did they not think that she would’ve liked this information? Didn’t they think she would’ve wanted to be there for her friends? Maybe if they’d told her, this wouldn’t have happened. She could’ve dealt with the problems in oh-so-many creative ways. But as soon as she saw the looks on the faces of her two favourite boys, those thoughts went out the window.

“Derek, it’ll be fine,” she soothed. “Look, a suspension is bad, yes, but this can be cleared up. I can erase the blemish from your record. It’ll be okay.”

“I’m not worried about that. But thanks for the offer.”

“What are you worried about then?”

“I’m worried that I’ve just painted a big fat fucking bullseye on Spencer’s forehead, that’s what I’m worried about.”

None of them knew how to comfort him. And the reason for this was that they knew. They knew that he’d messed up.

And that their school life would never be the same.

Only one thing came to JJ’s mind.

“Does anyone want a coffee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Morgan! D:
> 
> During my time away, I had a thought. What if, now that they're slowly becoming enemies of the stat-- I mean school, the other terrible classmates are criminals that they've faced in the show? That might be interesting, I could have some fun with that.
> 
> Thank for reading! Lots of love!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Guess who's back, back again*  
> *Numsy's back, tell a friend*  
> I've finally returned, yay!!! Fantastic to finally find time to write another chapter, I've been swamped with work commitments lately, but I've pumped out another chapter.  
> Happy belated birthday to ShadowsAtNight, one of my best readers! I love to see your comments in my inbox, because you simply fill me with joy!  
> Thanks to highfunctioningwhovian (who in the future will be referred to as lizzie) and pallyndrome for even more comments, the number is getting ridiculous at this point (which is a good thing)! And huge thanks to Vivianne2103 and Cassie2013 for kudos at around the same time so I could notice how similar your numbers are! Thanks so much for the support! <3
> 
> Chapter 11 has (finally) arrived!

They’d all gone to the café, but weirdly, only Spencer and Emily got coffee. Spencer, because he was quickly discovering his love of the caffeinated beverage; Emily, because she honestly couldn’t remember a time previously when she’d felt so emotionally strained, and it was taking all of her will not to crash right there and then. The others weren’t in the mood, which was noticed by their host; he did his best to alleviate them from their obvious pains.

“I didn’t order a coffee, George.”

“It’s free, Derek. It’s okay. Please take it, I couldn’t leave myself thinking that I should have done more to help you.”

_Oddly dramatic_ , Derek thought, but he accepted anyway. A small smile erupted from him, as George remembered his preference. Either he had a memory as good as Spencer’s, or he simply cared about his customers. Morgan chose to believe the latter. It offered more comfort.

JJ had suggested they come to the café, but hadn’t thought much further ahead than that, and felt helpless as she witnessed the sombre silence pass over her. She supposed it gave them all time to contemplate their time together.

As she looked over the rim of her cup, she thought of her friends in waves of fondness and frustration. She loved them as people, and wanted to spend so much of her time with them. But the frustration came from the issues that they all seemed to share: trust. What made this even more harrowing was the thought that the requirement to figure out what each of them were feeling was an element of trust, which they were unwilling or unable to give.

Spencer was, as usual, unsure of himself, although this had nothing to do with his previous insecurities. He’d banished those, or he hoped so. Unfortunately, the bullying was still hurting him, and his anxiousness was now cast over himself, and the worries that he would continue to be harassed for staying with his new friends. He immediately chastised himself for being selfish.

Morgan was usually a more assertive person, but he unfortunately could not banish these worries that had come over him. Would these people still want to hang around him, be friends with him, if he was going to attract trouble like this. He realised that these concerns were not realistic, but after being let down so many times previously, he couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, that it was in the human nature to be like this. That there was nothing he could do to prevent them leaving.

Emily was mainly worried that there was nothing she could do to prevent _herself_ leaving. That despite what her mother said, there was going to come a day where she simply didn’t return to the school, that they would wonder where she was as she was on the other side of the world preparing to learn whatever language they spoke in Tanzania or something.

And Penelope, well, her over-developed sense of empathy and sympathy meant that she was in a world of pain for the struggles that her friends were having to go through. Just now hearing of what had happened to Spencer, and feeling Derek’s shoulders shudder from the seat next to her, her face cringed as she attempted to banish the bad thoughts by simply being there for her friends.

JJ couldn’t have this go on.

“Let’s play a game.”

“A game?”

“Yeah, you heard me.”

“What sort of game?”

“I don’t know. Come on. Ideas?”

George saw what JJ was attempting to do, and spoke up in support. “I probably have something round back. Let me go and get it.”

“A board game? Please don’t pull out Zathura.”

“Zathura?” Spencer asked. “What the hell is that?”

“Shit, I forgot you’re fifteen going on seventy. It’s a board game from a movie.”

“Yeah, he’s not going to get many pop culture references, never mind the obscenely obscure ones.”

“Hey, I’m catching up. I watched Space Jam.”

“Good God. Look, there’s so much more out there than _Space Jam_. Be honest, were you just a little bored one day? Did you just watch it because it shows up every weekend on the same channel?”

“No! It happened the other way around!”

“What do you mean?”

“I watched it because it kept showing up, and _then_ I was bored.”

Through the laughter, Garcia piped up. “Hey, don’t knock Space Jam! That was my favourite movie, when I was seven.”

“It was mine too, but some things don’t age well.”

“That’s because it’s timeless.”

“Did it ever have a time?” Emily asked innocently. Before Penelope could respond with fire, George returned.

Derek saw the game.

“Uh, wait, I don’t know that this is the best idea George.”

“Why not?”

“Because Monopoly can genuinely destroy friendships, which I’d rather not happen right now.”

“Somehow, I think you’ll be fine.” He walked away, leaving the five to their own devices. They all looked at the board. Spencer, unsurprisingly, didn’t have a clue how to play.

“Give me the instructions.” Emily complied, and he was done in about twenty seconds. “Done.”

“You did not read all of that,” Morgan chuckled.

“I did too! Trust me, I’ve got this now. I can read pretty fast.”

“I’ve seen you read before, and that was at normal person speed.”

“That was purely because I didn’t want to watch the soccer game, and you told me I could finish the chapter.”

“You sneaky little bastard.” Spencer knew there was no venom behind the shot and smiled cheekily. “You know what, I am in the mood for it now. Can we get this going then?”

“Oh, no, _now_ I’m scared.” Spencer rolled his eyes.

Spencer figured that with his superior intelligence and gambling knowledge that this would be a walk in the park for him.

He was wrong.

“Oh. That sucked.”

“You’re only saying that because you lost.” JJ pointed out.

“Well, obviously. Doesn’t mean I don’t think it.”

“That’s the luck of the draw.”

“Luck isn’t real, JJ. Spencer just sucks at this game.” Penelope chuckled. The game was over soon enough anyway, with a few of them bowing out through boredom, leaving Derek as the winner.

“Yes! Winner!”

“By default,” smirked Spencer.

“Meh, semantics.” JJ noticed that the stress lines that had previously cloaked Derek’s forehead were gone, and was grateful, even if it was only a temporary change. She saw the good that they all together could do for each other.

She saw what nobody else saw; they fit.

Sure, they were a contrasting set of personalities, but oftentimes opposites attract. Derek and Spencer, for example; one outgoing, one less so. On the outside, people would think that they wouldn’t fit, and she realised where Will was coming from in his confusion about their friendship. But they got on like they’d been friends for years.

Penelope and Emily. One bubbly and vivacious, the other quiet and sarcastic. But they’d clicked as soon as they’d met, and it felt like the two influenced the other’s moods. Particularly Emily seemed brighter around all four of them.

This left JJ. She didn’t want to feel like the odd one out, and certainly the others didn’t make her feel that way, but she wasn’t exactly sure where she matched up with anyone specifically. She was the odd number.

“Earth to JJ!”

“Unh… Sorry, what?”

“We were thinking about heading out of here, although it appears you were thinking about something else.”

“No, nothing. Just stopped thinking for a second. Let’s go then. Thanks George!” Their host nodded his recognition, and the five left the café in better stead than they had had entering.

“Where are we headed now?”

“Shouldn’t you go back to school?” Morgan asked. Four stony glares stared back. “Is that a no?”

“Yes.”

“My house is free. My mum’s never home, so we should be good to head there until she arrives from whatever function she’s attending today.” Everyone noticed the annoyance in her voice, but nobody chose to comment on it.

“How far is it?”

“Ten minutes, tops.”

Morgan immediately let Emily, Penelope and Spencer go ahead, and walked in step with JJ. He knew the look she had, and he wanted to quash those thoughts.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Thinking those thoughts.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking about?” An eyebrow had gone up. “What if I’m thinking about giving you a striptease?”

“If you were thinking that, then by all means continue.” His grin vanished. “But we both know that wasn’t what you were thinking about.”

“Yeah, obviously. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.”

“Harsh.”

“I can’t help but have doubts, you know? And it’s not about you guys, whether I like you, because I do. But it’s more about—”

“Where you fit?” Looking surprised, JJ nodded. “We all know what you’re feeling. Why do you think Penelope overcompensates so much? And Spencer is terrified of not being accepted, so he goes along with everything everyone else says because he thinks that saying the slightest wrong thing could fuck everything up. I still think things like that. But I don’t think we’re supposed to know where we fit instantly. I think it’s about figuring it out over time.”

JJ nodded gratefully. “I hope we’ll get over it soon.”

“I think we definitely will. But until then, stop worrying. Please.”

“Now you’re sounding desperate.” But apparently that was the limit of his emotional connection for one day, because he’d already called out to Emily, making jokes once again.

JJ realised that she probably had it all wrong. After all, she seemed to get along with all of them just fine, so it wasn’t like she didn’t fit. She just didn’t know _where_ she fit. And that was bugging her.

But she had an epiphany.

Maybe it wasn’t about opposites. Sure, there were a few in the group there, but maybe that wasn’t the whole of how she fit in with them all. After all, she thought she connected with all of them. Maybe it wasn’t about one singular link between two people.

Maybe it was about all the links between five different people.

With a newfound enthusiasm, JJ bounded forwards to join Penelope and Spencer, inserting herself into their conversation, and she was even more thrilled when they let her.

Maybe she’d found her place, with them. Maybe she hadn’t.

But there was only one way to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of you hate me, I promise JJ will find her place soon. She belongs after all and she has to figure it out soon. But I think I'll let them open up to one another in the next chapter, you know, inside Emily's house. Until next time!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long and tumultuous journey, but I finally return, at 2:37 AM. And I've got a flight tomorrow... today. Whatever. SO MANY APOLOGIES! I don't even have an excuse this time... I'd been receiving a lot of praise for my original novel on Wattpad, and I had a lot more motivation to complete that to please them? I guess? But I've finally returned, as a better and more experienced writer, hopefully, and I'm ready to present another chapter.

Morgan whistled. “Wowww… Emily, you’ve been holding out on us! Who knew that you owned such a house?”

“ _I_ owned? I don’t remember anything about owning this house. But my mum did well to get it. I guess all that wheeling and dealing with real estate everywhere else helped.”

“Can we move in here? There’d be enough bedrooms for all of us, definitely.”

“There’s four bedrooms in this house. Who’re you kicking out?”

“I volunteer for this. I don’t want to live with him.” Spencer smiled, tentatively, wondering if he’d gone too far. Weirdly, he was relieved when he got a flick in the back of the head from Morgan.

“Thanks, genius. But that isn’t the question. The real question is who’s bunking together.” Morgan waggled his eyebrows in Garcia’s direction.

“I love how you think of me.” Garcia purred, but the others saw a mischievous glint in her eye. “But you look like you’d snore, I’m going to have to pass.”

“Hey!”

He turned to the other two girls in bemusement. “Sorry, she’s got a point there. Us ladies just need our beauty sleep. So even in this fictional universe you’ve created in your head, we’re still rejecting you. How does that feel?” JJ asked, with fake sincerity.

Emily decided to take it a step further. “Yes… I’d _much_ rather bunk with somebody else.” She ran a hand lightly over Spencer’s shoulders. He took a quick breath.

“No, Emily, I need to sleep in his room!” JJ fake cried. Spencer blushed, and he turned a darker red when he saw that Morgan had noticed. The ladies continued, oblivious.

“No, he’s mine!”

Morgan held his hands up. “Pretty Boy, we may have made a mistake here. We’re outnumbered.” He watched Garcia and JJ slowly draw themselves towards Spencer.

“Hey, I’m not on your side. I’m getting the better part of the deal here.” Morgan scoffed. The jig was up, and the girls pulled away, leaving Spencer a little disappointed but far more comfortable.

“Well, now that we’re here, and skiving off school… what do you suggest we get up to?”

“If you’re suggesting illegal activities, I’m going to have to recommend against that.”

“God no, Reid! I meant inside this house.”

“There are plenty of illegal things to do inside this house.”

“I set myself up for that one.”

“Who knows how many drugs Emily’s hiding under the floorboards. And there’s five people here, that equals a maximum of four murders, or rap—”

“Okay! Let’s watch a movie.” Emily interjected.

“Did your television cost you ten thousand dollars?”

Emily mumbled something unintelligible.

“Can you repeat that?”

“Two thousand.”

Morgan grinned, and then burst out laughing, the others not long behind him. “Well, then let’s make use of it.”

They sat down on the lounge, Spencer making the mistake of looking at the movie selection, and thus missing out on any available spots. “Looks like it’s the floor for you. But hey, at least you get to pick the movie.”

“I should pick a horror flick, just for you.”

“Please. Nothing like that would scare me,” laughed Penelope.

Spencer and Penelope had a mutual understanding of the fact that something like that would _absolutely_ terrify her, and he chose to be nice, putting on the first movie that caught his eye.

“ _Me and Earl and The Dying Girl.”_ Spencer read aloud. “Sounds morbid.”

“I got it for a birthday—”

“Did you get a Ferrari for your birthday too?”

Emily ignored Morgan. “—but haven’t actually gotten around to watching it yet.” Spencer fed the disc into the DVD player, and sat himself down in front of Morgan, eyes focused on the television.

Morgan’s eyes narrowed, not that Spencer noticed. That wouldn’t do at all. He looked down the row.

JJ was two positions away. He grinned. Garcia was next to him; it was doable.

Morgan subtly moved one leg to the other side of Spencer and shifted him in front of Penelope. Spencer looked up in mild irritation but became confused when he saw Morgan’s wink. Spencer looked on the other side of himself. JJ was right next to him. He looked back at Derek. _Don’t you dare,_ he mouthed. Derek merely grinned and whispered to Penelope.

Spencer felt Penelope’s legs slide to the other side of him, and push him to the same side, less subtly than Morgan. Perhaps it was the lack of leg strength, or perhaps she knew that he’d cottoned on. Either way, Spencer shot a glare at Morgan.

JJ looked down at Spencer. She’d seen them shift Spencer down in front of her; she supposed that they just didn’t want anyone in front of her. It wasn’t like she cared.

She felt Penelope suddenly draw closer. “You should give him a massage,” she whispered, almost inaudibly.

Penelope’s ‘ouch!’ was certainly audible though, after JJ slammed her fist into Penelope’s arm. After a quick glance down at Spencer, she settled back to enjoy the movie.

Two hours later, it finished. On a weirdly high note. Especially given what had happened to the girl. “That was good! Really good!”

“Depressing.”

“A little. But still good.” Emily stretched, noticing an intense lack of Spencer or JJ in the room. “Why are there only three of us?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bullshit, I saw what you did.” Morgan and Garcia played at looking innocent for a few moments but couldn’t hold it. “You leave him alone.”

“Hey, this time it wasn’t out of malice. We swear.”

“JJ is in a relationship.”

“A rocky one, that is going to come to an end very soon. We just need to plant the seed in her mind, Emily. We promise, we’re not trying to be horrible.”

“I believe you guys, although I know that they aren’t up to anything too bad. We’ll wait for them, I guess. What did you think of…”

JJ watched as Spencer slowly extracted himself from the room, concerned. He’d been quiet when the movie ended, and didn’t interact with the others at all, simply exiting as quietly as possible. She followed him, quietly.

She gasped, recognising the sound. Spencer was crying. But he heard her, and turned, wiping away tears.

“Hey JJ. Shouldn’t you be out there with the others?”

“Seriously?”

“What?”

JJ shook her head; it amazed her that he was in the sort of mood that left him crying, but he was still more worried about whether she would be having fun. “No, I shouldn’t. Spencer, what’s… why were you crying? Was it the movie?” The movie had been sad, sure, but with a relatively high note at the end. Not worth this crying.

“No, it wasn’t the movie. Not really, anyway.”

“So, what’s wrong then?” JJ tried to put her best concerned face on, just to show him that she really cared, and was really listening.

He sighed, clearly struggling to give her the information. “Do… do you know about my mother?”

“Your mother? No, I’ve never even heard you speak about her.”

“She… my father left us. Four years ago.”

“Spence, I’m so sorry.”

“He left because of her.” Seeing JJ’s wide eyes, he hastily continued. “It wasn’t her fault. I still love her… and him, begrudgingly. She was… is sick. Very sick, with… s-schizophrenia.” Spencer shuddered, almost unable to force out that final word. JJ’s eyes shone, feeling the pain that the poor boy was going through. “I’m so sorry, Spencer.”

“Seeing that movie… I know it was cancer, but there were just so many parallels. She was put in some huge facility because she was sick. The knowledge that I’ll probably have to do that to my own mother… I’m sorry, JJ. Didn’t mean to burden you… or anything like that.”

JJ was almost speechless. He joked around with them, he took everything in stride, and was even learning to throw a few jabs of his own. How could he act so kind, so friendly, with such a burden resting on his shoulders?

Before Spencer knew what was happening, JJ had both of her arms wrapped around him. He didn’t cry, not wanting to soak her shirt, but simply rested his head on her shoulders. She pulled away, sensing his relaxation, but Spencer wished he could have just stayed there for a little longer.

At the same time, he realised that he didn’t really want to pursue his crush on her in any way at that moment. She was one of his best friends. And he wouldn’t change anything about that.

“Soo… Spence?” He asked.

“What?”

“That’s a new one.”

“What, calling you ‘Spence’?”

“Yeah, I’ve never heard that from anybody before.”

“Nobody’s ever called you Spence before?” He confirmed in the negative. “Well, then, I am reserving that parking space. Nobody’s ever allowed to call you that, except for me.”

“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that.”

“If someone does call you that, I’ll fight them.”

“A little extreme, but thanks.”

She smiled at him, but their conversation was interrupted by the sharp knocks at the door. “I’ll get it.” She was closest to the door, and she could vaguely hear the others hollering to her to get the door.

She grinned at her discussion of nicknames with Spencer. It might have just been over nicknames, but she knew that he found her territorial nature to be hilarious.

She wondered why she’d never been like that with Will.

And as soon as she thought of the man, she opened the door, and almost walked straight into him. “Will! Wasn’t expecting you!”

“Well, I came to look for you earlier. I was hoping that we could get together and do something.”

“Not right now, Will. I’m watching a movie.”

“You didn’t look you were watching a movie.”

JJ looked back at the house, and noticed that it was possible to see right into the room that she and Spencer were sitting in. “Sorry, we’d just finished. How did you find us?”

“Someone said they’d seen you walking to Prentiss’ house. But what were you doing?”

“Why, do you think…

“No! I know you wouldn’t do that. But… it just seems like you have so much time for them, and almost none for me.”

“I’m sorry, Will, I can—”

“No, JJ. I can’t keep doing this.”

“What are you saying?”

“I hate to… look, it’s me or it’s them.”

“Seriously? Are you actually doing this?”

Will simply waited for an answer.

“Them. 100%.” Will opened his mouth, but JJ ploughed on, furious. “And it’s not because I wanted them more, or because I didn’t love you, Will. It’s because I know that they would never force that ultimatum on me. Because they respect that I need to talk to other people. You saying that? Fucking ridiculous. Completely. I can’t believe that you would ever try to do that to me.”

“JJ…” Will clearly hadn’t expected that, and was swiftly backtracking. JJ was having none of it.

“No, Will. I’m not doing this. Goodbye.”

* * *

 

“What is taking her so long?” Morgan wondered aloud.

“God knows. I only caught a glimpse… I think it was Will.” Morgan was immediately worried about Spencer but figured that he wouldn’t appreciate the attention.

“How did he find us at this house?”

“Again, God knows.”

They listened to the door slam shut and watched JJ stalk back into the room and slam herself on the floor right next to Spencer.

“JJ? What happened?”

“My long-term boyfriend and I just split up. That’s very new.”

“JJ, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not.” She smiled cheerfully, something the others took as a good sign. “Now, what are we doing next?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh... so Spencer's finally learning to open up, and JJ makes the (correct) decision to split up with Will. Drama boiling. Next chapter will be a little way into the future, and introduce Lila. Can't wait! After watching the episode with Austin, I toyed with having her instead, but decided not to, because I actually like her, and wish they'd explored that romance a little more, given that JJ/Reid is obviously no long an option. Lila, on the other hand, I dislike. And so will JJ.
> 
> Emily is also finally realising how alien all of her shit looks to everybody who sees it... food for thought, I wonder?
> 
> Hopefully the fact that she finally split with Will makes up for the fact that it's been over two months since last update, which is unforgivable? I'm sorry, I ask for forgiveness.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and a new report gives us some breaking news! After months of wait, it appears that Crazynumnums has _finally_ updated his fanfiction _Friendship in the Most Unlikely Places_. When asked about the long wait, Crazynumnums reportedly screamed and disappeared in a flash of smoke, refusing to answer any questions.
> 
> Shout-out time! Thank you to official unofficial Platinum member of AO3 Lizzie for yet another comment! Thanks to very recent commenter Dogmomof2 for unintentionally reminding me that I had an almost finished chapter ready! And thanks to *inhales deeply*... AllWritey (great pun btw), The_Bookish_Stargazer, mackenziet1, apd, Bluemicrite, NoDeviant, Zarsky13, and last but not least, thepandaispurple.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this latest installment!

It had been a few weeks since JJ’s split with Will, and many things had changed. Not all for the better.

However, there were indeed some positive changes.

It was apparent to literally everybody except JJ how happy Spencer had been over those weeks. Everyone knew the reason as well, although Spencer was trying extremely hard to play it off. Morgan was planning a confrontation later.

JJ had felt no quarrels about spending most, if not all, of her time with them. With almost no other commitments, the others trusted her a lot more, and felt as if they could share themselves with her.

However, things began to get awkward. Nobody was willing to say what they were all thinking: that it was their fault that JJ split with Will. Because nobody said anything, conversations got tense. They couldn’t express themselves the way they wanted to.

They hadn’t all gotten together for two weeks.

* * *

Spencer traipsed through the halls, still feeling a positive buzz. He knew the effects were diminishing, though, as he had barely seen his new friends over that school week.

While that might have worked for them, it was a little problematic for himself. He didn’t have any other friends. They were it. And when they were off doing their own thing, it really left him in a problematic position.

He noticed a girl with blonde hair sitting on the floor, next to a doorway. It wasn’t JJ, though; he could tell, this girl was just… shaped differently. He blushed when he thought that, feeling uncomfortable. But he couldn’t just leave her on the ground.

“Hello? Excuse me?” The girl looked up at the sound of his tentative voice. She wasn’t crying, and actually smiled brightly at Spencer, making him feel slightly less anxious. After all, he didn’t want to be seen as some sort of white knight. “Are you… why are you on the floor?”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a floor.”

“And?”

“It’s completely disgusting.”

“I don’t care.” Spencer raised his eyebrows at the girl, grinning internally at the spunk she appeared to have. She stood up despite her protests and looked at Spencer. She was about half a head shorter than himself, but her natural exuberance almost seemed to draw her up to around his height. “Why do you care?”

“I tend to want to prevent people from getting diseases. Do you know how many STDs are probably on these floors?”

“Whatever they are, I probably already have them.” Spencer recoiled a little. “Kidding! God! Calm down. I’m Lila. Lila Archer.”

“Hey, Lila. I’m Spencer. I’ve seen you around before.”

“Really?”

“Probably.”

“That’s promising. Well, it was great to talk to you, but I actually must be getting away now. Surprisingly enough, I do have other places I could be. I’ll see you around though, Spencer.”

“Yeah, see you around.” Spencer waved to her, then looked down as his phone buzzed. It was Morgan. It showed his actual name. Spencer figured it wouldn’t do to have somebody called ‘Adonis’ in his contacts list.

_Hey, we’re thinking of getting together again at JJ’s soccer game this weekend. We haven’t gotten together recently._

**Yes! Sounds awesome!** Spencer wrote, then deleted the text, not wanting to seem too enthusiastic. But he was enthusiastic, he couldn’t help it. **Sounds good. Any particular reason?**

_JJ suggested it. She said she desperately needed to talk to us._

**That’s going to be a little difficult when she’s running around on the field.**

_She meant after the game, obviously._

**And you didn’t have other plans? A date or something?**

_No? Why would you think I had a date?_

**Because I’ve seen you on several occasions this week, and every single time, you had a completely different girl hanging off your arm. Do you ever talk to the same girl twice?**

_I talk to JJ, Emily and Penelope regularly._

**Do you ever talk to a girl who’s interested in you sexually twice?**

_See you at the game, Spencer._ Morgan put away his phone and walked down the steps to meet Emily. “No Garcia today?”

“Pen’s off at the computer lab, doing work that will ‘save the world’, apparently.”

Morgan chuckled. “Classic dramatics. Sounds like her.” He paused, and narrowed his eyes, thinking back to Spencer’s comments. He’d laughed them off, but now he wondered if that was what everybody simply saw him as. “Do you think I talk to too many girls?”

“What are you talking about? And why are you asking me?”

“Spencer thinks that every time he’s seen me this week I’ve been flirting with a different girl. I wanted to know if it was just the mood that he was in.”

“What do you mean, mood?”

“I mean the happy, less internally jealous mood ever since JJ and Will split. Now answer the question.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a slut, Morgan,” she smirked maliciously.

“Fuck you.”

“I’d rather not. I’m not someone you only talk to once.” Morgan rolled his eyes, but his grin was unshakeable. “Why do you think that JJ is asking us to meet her?”

“She’s probably lonely. The way I see it, a few of her other friends kind of ostracised her. They took Will’s side, basically. She’s got her soccer teammates, but…”

“As if we didn’t do that.” Morgan blanched at the straightforwardness with which Emily spoke. “Come on, Derek! We haven’t been with her recently, when we really should have. We’ve all been off doing our own thing.”

“Why, though?”

Neither of them was able to come up with an answer, but they both hoped they’d be able to discuss it sometime in the future. Emily laid a hand on Morgan’s shoulder, feeling guilt at her words. While they might have been true, Derek might not have been ready to hear them. “Would you like to talk this lunch?”

“I don’t know if—”

“Derek, come on. You know that we need to… I don’t know, communicate one way or another.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course, I am.”

“Head out to the grass area today. We’ll talk… hopefully.”

“Hopefully?”

Derek shrugged, the ghost of a grin on his face. “I might punch someone again, who knows?”

“Please don’t. I know it might be hard for you to not get violent… shit, I feel sorry for any girl you do meet.”

“Woah, a little too far there.”

“Really?”

“Dial down on the domestic violence references maybe?” Derek proposed. “Whatever. Anyway, talk to you soon.” Emily nodded, and let him walk away.

They both showed up, along with a thrilled Penelope. “Yay! Lunch!”

“Is there anything you don’t get excited about, Penelope?”

“Murder, sexual assault, terrorist attacks, abuse of power…”

Morgan and Emily looked at each other, feeling the mood drop. Penelope wasn’t going to let that happen. “… and especially calling maroon maroon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maroon is a stupid name for the colour maroon.”

“What do you call it then?”

“Navy red.”

A beat. Penelope giggled, and Morgan and Emily were not too far behind. “I like it, I’m using that from now on. Now, on to our first order of business, JJ wants to talk to us all?”

“Probably about organising more get-togethers. JJ seems like the sort of person who would organise a gathering just to organise more gatherings.”

“That or she’s going to talk to us about how her splitting up with Will wasn’t our fault and how it was completely her own decision.”

“Why can’t both be true?”

“What?”

Emily started again. “JJ can think for herself, obviously. But it would be ridiculous to pretend that we weren’t an influencing factor in her decision. She was forced to choose; without us here, she would still be with Will. I’m not saying we should stay away from her or anything, I’m just saying that she could acknowledge our role in the event.”

“Speak for yourself, Emily. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Can you ever be serious, Penelope?”

“Nope, life’s more fun that way.”

“Fucking hell.” Emily groaned. “Nice to know you’re considerate. Anyway, my point was—”

“We got it, Emily. It’s fine. I think she’ll tell us the truth, and even if she doesn’t, we know her well enough to understand what she really means.”

“Talking about why JJ invited us to her game?" Spencer arrived and sat down promptly. "I think you’re analysing it too hard. Maybe she just wants to actually talk to us as friends, you know.”

The other three looked at each other. Morgan scrunched up his nose in disagreement. “…no. What the hell happened to you, Pretty Boy?” Spencer’s face, as usual, pinked at the nickname. “I’m not used to you being so optimistic. Would that have anything to do with recent events?” Spencer’s cheeks got even darker. “Come on, you’ve gotta bite the bullet sooner or later, right?”

Morgan didn’t want to cause Spencer too much discomfort, so he just tiptoed around the subject, even though everyone knew what he was talking about. Spencer, on the other hand, looked straight back at him. “No.”

“No? And why not?”

Spencer wasn’t actually sure why he’d said ‘no’ with such finality there. He’d said to Derek a few weeks earlier that his crush on her would ebb away due to his hormones. And he was surprised to think that maybe, quite possibly, he might’ve been right. “Eh, a number of reasons.”

The bell went at that moment, stopping Spencer from elaborating, and he walked away smirking at the fact that he’d surprised Morgan in a conversation, rather than the other way around. Derek shrugged, and turned back to the girls. Penelope’s downtrodden look made him look at her with curiosity.

“Damnit.”

“What?”

Penelope sighed. “My ship has sunk.”

The other two laughed at her, marvelling at her somewhat creepy investment in other’s social lives. “Come on, it’s not like this was some sort of fanfiction or whatever, Pen.”

“Oooh, fanfiction! Good idea!” Morgan and Emily looked at each other and shrugged, not wanting to ask.

* * *

The referee’s whistle blew, signalling half time in a tense affair. It was 1-0 to the away side, and Spencer thought that despite their best efforts, JJ’s side were simply looking like the worse team. “Damn. Oh well. Anyone want some food?” Everyone nodded affirmatively, and Spencer walked away with his wallet in his pocket.

As he lined up at the van, in order to get his friends some hot chips, a relatively familiar face sauntered up next to him. “Hey, Spencer, right?”

“Yep, that’s me. What’re you doing here, do you actually watch the game?”

“Nah, I just come here to give guys ten-dollar blowies in the toilet stalls. Hey, maybe _that’s_ where all the STDs came from, not the school floor!”

“What’s with that answer?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. _Yes_ , I’m here to watch the game.” Spencer merely raised his eyebrows in questioning. “Sorry. It’s been a weird week, didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“What happened?”

“Managed to piss off my best friend by telling her I didn’t want to head out shopping with her. I mean, sorry if I don’t feel like following you everywhere like a lap dog. She’s really irritating at times. But I still love her, no matter how risky it is for my mental health.”

“Ooookay…” Spencer didn’t really know what to say in response to that.

Fortunately, Lila seemed to be almost as good as Garcia at keeping a conversation going. “But again, sorry about that. How about you, how have you been?”

“Well, this is one of the weirder moments.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most kids our age tend to punch me in the stomach on sight.” Lila’s mouth opened slightly. “Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get the idea. Outside this group of about four friends I have, most people seem to hate me.”

“Sorry about that. Hopefully that gets better.” Lila said, not quite dismissively. She obviously still felt bad, but not quite… Spencer didn’t know how to put it. He shook the feeling off. “Hey, why are you here? You don’t seem like the type to be into soccer.”

“I’m more into it than you’d think. It’s a useful application of physics and general mathematics. Plus, one of my friends is playing today… Hey, speak of the devil.” JJ nodded at him, but didn’t walk over to speak to them, instead continuing on her path towards the bleachers, presumably to where the others were sitting.

“Huh, that was odd. But yeah, that’s why we come over. We’ll probably meet up after she’s finished playing, too.”

The man stood in front of them cleared his throat, making Spencer jump. He hadn’t realised they’d reached the front of the line. Spencer smiled tentatively and ordered, and the man stared at him disapprovingly. Spencer and Lila walked quickly away.

“Why did that make me feel like I was being told off by the principal?”

“Dude, that was worse than the principal. I’ve been sent to his office loads of times, the worse he’d ever give you was a pamphlet for a nearby yoga clinic.”

“Really? He made me re-sit a test once because he thought I was cheating, and he seemed quite severe then.”

“Maybe he likes the girls more than the boys,” she chuckled.

“Now there’s a disturbing thought,” Spencer shuddered. He looked down and remembered why he’d originally gone there. “Hey, it’s been great talking to you. See you around, Lila.”

Lila waved him off and strutted confidently away. Spencer watched her for a second, before retreating back to his friends.

* * *

“Maybe, he accidentally got lost while trying to find food, and stumbled into a dark alleyway. And in there, who knows what happened. Maybe he joined the Italian mafia.”

“Spencer, joining the Italian mafia? Please. It’s far more likely that he’s a secret member of some sort of improv club and he’s sneaking away there to do his bits. He’s directionally challenged, not suffering from dementia.”

“What _are_ you talking about?” JJ asked. Not out of worry, but out of amused curiosity.

“We’re wondering why it’s taking Reid so long to get our food. I’m hungry, damnit.” Morgan grumbled.

“You’re always hungry.” Emily placated him.

“Oh yeah, I saw him earlier. He was standing in line, talking to someone. I thought I’d leave him to it and come over to you guys.”

“Uh-huh. Is there a reason you didn’t tell us if this person was a guy or girl?” Garcia questioned.

“Um… it was a girl? Don’t know why that’s relevant. But he could be a while.” JJ heard the whistle blow. “Oh, shit, got to go guys. See you after the match, yeah?” She rushed away.

“The Titanic has been reborn.” Penelope high-fived Derek, while Emily rolled her eyes at the duo's antics, and desperately hoped that JJ and Spencer wouldn’t be embarrassed to death by those two meddling kids.

“I’m back! And I brought food!”

“Finally, Pretty Boy! Or should I say… Lover Boy.”

Spencer groaned. “For fucks sake, JJ,” he muttered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew... the fourth wall was blown over by the fabled Gusts of Plot, but I got it back up as quickly as I could.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the way I've written Lila in. Obviously I want people to prefer JJ, but I also don't want people to hate her. I feel like it would be completely unrealistic for Spencer to even be remotely interested in her if she was a complete bitch. So here we are.
> 
> Penelope suddenly became overly emotionally invested in this and I'm very happy.
> 
> Coming soon: I hope to write a little more about Emily's home life, and the lack of love between her and her mother. I've got some big ideas for that part of the story, so watch this space!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. Two updates within twenty-four hours of each other. Damn, that's pretty good. I'll take it.
> 
> The only bad side of updating so quickly is that it left no time for new commenters or kudos-givers (I don't know whether that's the correct term). So a big shout-out to Dogmomof2 once again for another comment, and that's the only one here. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy Chapter 14, there's still quite a long way to go!

“Fuck!” JJ punched the wall, before sinking to the ground. The students milling around beside her paid her little attention; this sort of thing was quite common.

One student did stop to help her, however. “JJ?” Emily asked, worry shining in the dim overhead lights. “What happened?”

“I’m… it’s nothing.”

“Sure, it isn’t.” Emily crossed her arms sternly, but unfolded them as soon as she saw the way JJ recoiled away from her action. A different approach was clearly required to get JJ to open up. “Look… do you have anywhere you need to be, really, right now? School’s finished, so do you need to head home right away?” JJ shook her head. Emily continued, speaking softly. “Do you want to come over to my house? It might be easier to talk there.”

“Just us?”

Emily wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t want anyone else there, but she nodded. If that was what JJ wanted, she would comply. “Sure. Just us.”

* * *

 

“I still can’t get used to this. Your mother’s an—”

“Ambassador, and yes, I know, it’s brilliant.” Emily spoke with a sour tone, and for once the blonde started to consider that maybe she wasn’t the only one feeling under the weather. If Emily was going to get her to talk, then she would make sure the opposite happened as well.

“Coffee?”

“Milk, no sugar. Thanks.” Emily nodded and walked away, and JJ basked in the… emptiness of the house. No matter what she and her family had been through, they always had a house that felt homely. Her home felt lived in. This? This was an empty shell of a house, simply pretending to be full of love. JJ noticed the absence of any family pictures, which was also odd. Every house that she’d ever been to always had… _something_.

There was no sign that Emily Prentiss had ever lived here.

“Are you finished psychoanalysing me?” JJ jumped at the cool voice, and hesitantly grabbed her coffee from the other girl’s hands. “Yeah, I get it, it’s fucking brilliant, and all. Whatever.” JJ nodded, keeping quiet for the moment about what she’d deduced. It could wait. “You wanted to talk?”

“No, I didn’t. _You_ wanted _me_ to—”

“Oh, cut the bullshit,” Emily said, without venom, and even the beginnings of a smile on her face. “You can’t hide behind everyone else’s witty banter and laughter for too long, JJ. Everyone’s noticed something’s up. Even Pen, and God knows that girl can really be oblivious to bad moods.”

“It’s not… bad moods, per se.”

“But?”

“Life just seems… real shit right now, to be honest.”

“Hey, we’re teens. It’s pretty much a prerequisite that we’re depressed.” JJ didn’t even crack a smile. “Woah, JJ, you’re not—”

“No, no. I know that. But I can’t seem to convince the counsellor that.”

“You visit the counsellor? Why?”

“Just to help me get over something.” JJ went purposefully vague with her answer, making sure Emily noticed. “But it’s like… he thinks I need to move on in order to be fully happy. And I don’t think I do. He wants me to go to an actual psychologist. I refused.”

“But if you’re actually happy, even without moving on, then why do you think life ‘is shit’?”

JJ shrugged. “It’s not just that. After I split up with Will…”

“Do you regret it? Breaking up with him?”

JJ thought about her answer for a long time. Because while it may have seemed like a straightforward question, the real implications lay buried far deeper. “No,” she finally said, giving Emily a little bit of relief. “I’m not regretting that. I’m just pissed at the way that some people have chosen to react.”

“’Some people’? Who do you mean?”

JJ chuckled bitterly. “God, I feel like I’m back in his office.” Seeing the look of alarm on Emily’s face, she quickly backtracked. “No, don’t worry. It’s far better to talk to you.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Emily didn’t want to push her too much, but eventually she prompted. “So, some people?”

“Well, the classic ex-boyfriend thing is happening. He keeps texting me all the cliched and stereotypical texts. You know. ‘I’m sorry’ and everything. But he’s not the problem. The problem is my team. The soccer team, I mean.”

“Obviously.”

“Yeah. It’s just… half of them side with him, and now don’t like me, and half of them side with me, and don’t like the other half. And I’m stuck in the middle of a split dressing room, feeling like the entire cause of all our recent fucking capitulations.” JJ referred to her previous two matches, 3-0 and 4-0 losses. The 4-0 loss, which Emily had seen, was against bottom of the table. At this rate, JJ’s side would drop out of the finals.

“I don’t care about pissing them off. I care that I’m the cause of all these problems. I care that, even though I don’t regret splitting up with him, it seems like my life is a lot less full since I left Will. Even with you guys. I’m not depressed, but it’s… it’s been a bad patch.”

Emily pondered for a moment. JJ had just expelled all of her internal thoughts for Emily, and it would be a little rude if she didn’t at least try and come up with a solution. But the only solution she could think of was a little love and support from her friends. And that included her, of course, starting now.

“I have only one idea. You up for Mario Kart?”

* * *

 

“Goddamn, I almost got you. Best of… oh shit, what are we up to again?”

“I think it’s best of 43,” Emily chuckled.

“Great. How the hell did you get so good at this?”

“I had a lot of practice.” The throwaway statement, meant to simply fuel their conversation, was full of bitterness and anger, and it took a second for both girls to register it.

“Emily?” JJ asked. Emily’s jaw was set, and her eyes were fixed to the screen. JJ sighed, and placed her remote down. “Time for the tables to turn. Talk to me, Emily.”

“I, uh… I’d rather not.”

“Emily, do you want to know what I was really thinking when I was looking around your house? When I was ‘psychoanalysing’ you?” Emily furrowed her eyebrows in mild confusion, but her eyes remained rooted to the television. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘woah, you’ve got so much stuff’. I was thinking, ‘woah, this place feels really empty’.”

“Ugh, okay.” Emily finally gave in and placed her remote down on the ground. “Fine, you’re right. There’s hardly anything nice in this place. I guess I just try to cover it up by pretending to think that you are amazed by it all.”

“Hey, to be fair, I think Morgan now wants to move in with you.” They shared a small laugh, but quickly sobered again. “But seriously, Em, what is with that?”

“It’s… like I said, my mother is an ambassador. It means she moves around a lot. We don’t have anything really personal out because it’s so likely that we’re just going to have to pick up and move away at a moment’s notice. I get it, I really do, but it makes me really… sad, I guess, to think that everything I’ve ever forged here could just be killed off immediately.”

“I’m so sorry, Emily. I wish I could help.”

“Could I move in with you?”

“I don’t think you’d fit. There aren’t enough rooms for us at the moment. I think one more person would ruin any hope we have of getting any personal space.”

“JJ, I was kidding.”

“So was I. Look, for what it’s worth, I truly think that you’ll sort everything out, that you’ll go where you need to be. I’m a firm believer in karma like that, so…”

“I hope so, JJ. Because of everywhere I’ve been… I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been. With you, Spencer, Derek, Penelope… I’d really miss you guys. And I’d like to think you’d miss me too.”

“Ehhh…” JJ waved her hand a little, signalling indecision. Emily rolled her eyes.

“Well, fuck you too.”

“Nah, you’re pretty replaceable, you know. I’m sure we can find another slightly sarcastic, smartass, stubborn brunette. Do you think that people look for advertisements like that on Craigslist?”

“I’m not sure, but hey, you should definitely try.”

* * *

 

“Kid, I don’t think that it’s worth it. She’ll just deny it ever happened, and we’ll be back to square one.”

“But I 100% caught Pen taking pictures of me. And I’m pretty sure she took pictures of JJ too. I really don’t need her doing anything with my image, I actually like the idea of never having a photoshopped dick on my face.”

“A photoshopped dick? Where’s your imagination, genius?” Penelope evidently overheard his statement, and sauntered over to set the record straight.

“Pen, what are you doing with my picture?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to… maybe find out at some point in the future. If all things go well.”

“Just leave it, Spencer. It’s not worth it.” Spencer sighed, and the two boys continued walking, while Penelope moved in the opposite direction, towards her own home.

“Spencer!”

Spencer turned. “That’s weird, I could’ve sworn I heard someone calling my name. Oh right, now I see, she’s all the way down there.” Spencer waved at Lila, making fun of their height difference. Despite being a little younger than her, Spencer was over half a foot taller than her.

“You’re hilarious, dickhead,” she said, flicking him. “Hi. I’m Lila.” She smiled brightly at Morgan.

He stared in amusement at Spencer’s new friend. “I’m Derek. I’ve heard a little about you,” he grinned. “Sadly, Pretty Boy here isn’t one for sharing.”

“Hey! What do you mean?”

“It’s not like you have many other friends, except for us. I thought that if you actually found someone who enjoyed your presence, you’d be a little more excited about it.”

“Who says I enjoy his presence? I’m just here for the free help in math,” Lila snickered.

“Why am I your personal punching bags today?”

“You’re my personal punching bag every day,” she smiled, somewhat wickedly.

“I’ve had about four full conversations with you. Actually, thinking about it, you’ve probably insulted me every time, so that makes sense.”

“Well, weirdly enough, I didn’t just come over here to meet Derek. Since Maggie still currently hates me for some reason, my plans for tomorrow are shot to bits and now I’m going to be extremely bored. Do you want to come with me for lunch?”

Spencer blinked and blushed simultaneously, very aware of the growing smirk of Morgan beside him. He gave Derek a subtle elbow in the ribs. “Uh, yeah, sure. Where at?”

“Just the same place that you got the chips from, maybe? Although I think I’d better order this time. I don’t think that guy likes you very much.”

“Yep, I got that vibe.”

“Okay. Well, see you then.” She walked away without further prompting. Spencer noticed she had a habit of doing that, of not allowing time for the conversation to go stale.

“Sooo…”

“Don’t do it, Morgan.”

“But—”

“Don’t say it.”

“Pretty Boy’s got a hot date!”

“Not even close. Like I said, and like she said, we’re friends. Friends that are getting lunch together tomorrow.”

“It is a date.”

“I’ve had lunch with Pen, and JJ, and Emily before. What makes this different?”

“Denial is just a—”

“—an abstract noun referring to the refusal to admit the existence of something.” Spencer was pretty sure he’d rather die than listen to Morgan pull out the old and stupid, ‘river in Egypt’ line. “I’m in denial because it doesn’t exist.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Maybe you should take a look at what’s making you so interested in my love life. Maybe a lack of something in your own life.”

Spencer walked away grinning, and Morgan fell back in step with him a second later. “Hey! Was that a shot?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Date? Not a date? Let me know what you think it is (or isn't) and why. And yes, there's a correct answer.
> 
> Hope this was a decent chapter. A little more emotional than usual, which I personally enjoyed, and I really liked writing about a newfound connection between JJ and Emily, helping to clear the air and letting them actually enjoy the time they have around one another. It would seem the two have new sisters.
> 
> However, of course, I had to offset that emotion and mushy stuff with a little bit of humour, and so I left you with a classic; Morgan teasing Reid about his love life. We've seen it happen enough, both in this story and on the show, and here's a little bit more for you. <3


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